Australian-listed property group Dexus has secured the first offshore institutional investor for its Healthcare Wholesale Property Fund (HWPF) with a A$100m (€63m) commitment.
Dexus CEO, Darren Steinberg, said at the company’s third quarter operations update that HWPF had made significant progress in its capital raising efforts.
Dexus declined to name the investor, a pension fund, whose commitment is subject to regulatory approval but is expected soon.
Steinberg said the commitment would enable the fund to acquire North Shore Health Hub-Stage 1 development at 12 Frederick Street, St Leonards, an inner Sydney suburb. The asset is currently held in the Dexus trading portfolio.
Construction has begun on the project, which has an estimated end-value of A$1bn.
Dexus completed the first round of equity raising for HWPF with commitments from two foundation members – Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Australian Ethical Investment - in June last year.
It indicated at the time that it would launch a second raising this year.
The fund was formed in 2017 through a partnership between Dexus and a South Australian group Commercial & General, with an ambition to grow the entity to A$2bn over three years.
Dexus in October 2018 bought a 28.5% stake in a specialist healthcare funds manager Heathley Asset Management. It has an option to buy a further 21.5% in the future.
Aside from healthcare, Dexus, which is Australia’s largest listed owner of prime office blocks, has stepped up diversification into sectors such as logistics/industrial, in which it has a joint venture with Singapore’s GIC and a separate partnership with M&G Real Estate.
