Singapore’s GIC has acquired a 50% interest in a A$1.5bn (€1bn) office tower development in Australia from Charter Hall Prime Office Fund (CPOF).

It is believed that the sovereign wealth fund, an existing investor with CPOF, has committed to the first stage of the development at 555 Collins Street, an A$800m office tower in Melbourne which will be home to Amazon Web Service once completed in 2023.

Charter Hall managing director and group CEO, David Harrison, said he was delighted to extend Charter Hall’s 22-year partnership with GIC.

“This transaction has provided our flagship office wholesale fund, CPOF, with capital to expand our Melbourne office portfolio via the acquisition of Southern Cross Towers, and to further invest in Stage 2 of 555 Collins Street, when appropriate,” Harrison said.

Charter Hall Office CEO, Carmel Hourigan, said the partnership expansion with GIC provided further evidence of the value of prime real estate and of the commitment from the group’s long-term partners to invest alongside its funds.

Hourigan said the CPOF portfolio had grown beyond A$9.5bn in scale and represented the single-largest office portfolio within the group’s A$26bn office platform.

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