Mirvac is making a second attempt to win management of the A$7bn (€4.7bn) AMP Capital Wholesale Office Fund (AWOF), at a time when AMP is negotiating to sell off the management rights to its entire fund management platform.
Mirvac went close to winning the right to manage AWOF last September, but AWOF’s independent advisers decided that AMP Capital should retain these rights.
The re-emergence of Mirvac is expected to complicate negotiations currently underway between AMP Capital (now renamed Collimate Capital), and Dexus to buy out the manager’s Australian real assets funds management platform.
A spokesman for the trustee of AWOF confirmed that Mirvac had approached AWOF trustee with its latest proposal to run the fund.
“The Trustee has asked the independent advisory committee to look at the request and to make a recommendation about what would be in the best interest of investors,” said the spokesman.
A super fund investor in AWOF told IPE Real Assets that he had anticipated Mirvac would return following news that Dexus was trying to buy the entire management platform for AMP Capital’s Australian real estate and infrastructure funds.
Another source confirmed that Mirvac “has done a lot of work and is very well advanced” with its latest proposal to manage AWOF.
But it was generally agreed that AWOF investors could not fault Dexus either – that they considered it a good operator.
“Dexus manages assets well and delivers returns, but there is no detail and no firm proposal,” said the source, adding: “I can only imagine that Dexus will put something on the table that is pretty compelling.”
Another investor pointed out that Dexus had competing pools of capital in the office space – an office fund, an office mandate from CPP Investments and capital from other investors. “I don’t think Mirvac has the same level of competition,” said this source.
Mirvac manages a portfolio of office assets on behalf of China Investment Corporation, which it acquired from Investa Property.
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