The Hong Kong-listed Link REIT has made an unsolicited offer for assets, valued at A$1.5bn (€842m), in a retail fund managed by Lendlease,
The Australian Prime Property Fund (APPF) Retail, which is one of three flagship funds under the APPF series, has 50% stake in shopping centres in three states – NSW, Queensland and Western Australia,
The assets are Sunshine Plaza in Queensland and Macarthur Square in NSW. These two assets are owned with GPT group, which have the management rights of these two centres. The third centre is Lakeside Joondalup in Western Australia which is jointly owned by the listed Vicinity Centres. Collectively, they are worth around A$1.5bn, according to sources.
Both Link REIT and Lendlease declined to comment.
Link REIT was born out of owning retail assets in Hong Kong, before expanding to China. In the past five years, it has invested further afield in Australia and Singapore. The vehicle is one of the largest retail REITs in Asia Pacific, with assets under management of HK226bn, at March 31, 2025.
The Hong Kong investor is already a significant investor in Australian real estate. In 2021, it bought stakes in three city centre retail assets, including the iconic Queen Victoria Building, from GIC for A$538.2m. It first entered the Australian market in 2020 when it bought an office building in Market Street, Sydney CBD, from Blackstone for A$683m.
In 2022, Link REIT bought two busy shopping malls in Singapore for a combined value of S$2.6bn (€1.7bn).
This year, Link REIT launched its private funds business, Link Real Estate Partners and is raising its first private fund, with the aim of raising up to US$700m for value-add opportunities in Australia, Japan and Singapore.
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