GIC is investing A$648m (€392m) to buy a minority stake in a portfolio of 203 convenience retail properties in Australia,

With Charter Hall Group, GIC has acquired a 49% stake in the newly-established Ampol Property Trust, which owns the A$1.4bn portfolio of service stations cum convenience retail.

GIC would own 95% of the purchased stake. Charter Hall said it would own a 5% stake for A$34m.

Charter Hall negotiated the transaction to buy the services station assets for a total of A$682m.

Last week IPE Real Asset reported that GIC was backing Charter Hall in the purchase of the stake in the service stations which operate under the Caltex brand.

David Harrison, managing director and group CEO of Charter Hall, said the latest ”transaction reinforces our confidence in the convenience retail sector”.

Matt Halliday, Ampol’s managing director and chief executive, said: “The transaction represents compelling value in volatile market conditions.”

Ampol will hold 51% of the unlisted property trust established, with the Charter Hall-led consortium to own the freehold stores.

The company said that all sites held within the property trust are to be leased back to Ampol under long-term triple net lease arrangements.

Ampol said the property trust would provide a platform to potentially acquire future sites and sell additional Ampol sites into the property trust over time.

A previous version of this story incorrectly said the latest GIC acquisition was different from the sourced story reported last week. 

To read the digital edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here. 

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