A Dexus-run property fund will appeal a court ruling that has directed it to sell an $830 million stake in Sydney’s Macquarie Centre, held to its co-investors in the shopping mall, super fund heavyweights UniSuper and Cbus Property.

The decision to lodge an appeal sets in train a high-stakes legal battle between one of the country’s largest listed property platforms and the two powerful industry super funds in a complex dispute over the ownership of one of Sydney’s biggest retail precincts.