Super fund giants UniSuper and Cbus Property have partnered with AMP Capital to take majority ownership of Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast and a half stake in Sydney’s Macquarie Centre in a $2.2 billion deal, the biggest direct retail property transaction yet in Australia.

The mega-deal adds considerable ballast and a note of confidence to AMP Capital’s real estate platform as it moves toward a proposed demerger next year that is slated to spin off into a private markets entity, combined with its infrastructure business.