Singapore trust snaps up HQ of Gold Coast surfwear icon Billabong in $38M deal

Billabong owner Boardriders will lease back the premises from the new owner for 12 years.

The Billabong HQ has sold in a $39 million deal. Picture: Richard Gosling

A SINGAPORE-listed real estate trust is riding a wave of investment on the Gold Coast, snapping up the HQ of surfwear icon Billabong for $38.46 million.

This morning AIMS APAC REIT announced to the Singapore Stock Exchange that it has bought the 3.3ha site at 1 Billabong Place, Burleigh Heads, from California-based Boardriders, which is majority-owned by US group Oaktree Capital. Boardriders took over Billabong in March last year after shareholders voted to accept a $1.05 a share takeover offer.

It put the Burleigh property, which it inherited from the takeover, to the market in November last year.

Iconic Gold Coast surfwear icon Billabong sold to Boardriders last year. Photo: Steve Baccon

The Singapore AIMS trust has been run by Sydney-based AIMS Financial Service Group for the past decade and has a $1.5 billion portfolio with 2 properties in Singapore and a 49 per cent interest in the Optus Centre in Sydney’s Macquarie Park. The new acquisition takes the trust’s income from Australia to a 15.1 per cent share, up from 13.1 per cent.

Knight Frank’s Mark Witheriff brokered the deal with James Branch and Sebastian Fahey. Mr Witheriff declined to comment this morning.

The CEO for the Singapore trust, Koh Wee Lih, said the purchase is in line with its goal of building a “high-quality, diversified portfolio of assets that creates long-term value for our unitholders”.

“The outlook for the Gold Coast economy remains positive as the region is currently experiencing growth across key economic factors including strong population growth, investment into major infrastructure developments and an increase in both domestic and offshore tourism,: Mr Lih said.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE GOLD COAST BULLETIN — JUST $1 FOR THE FIRST 28 DAYS

The Billabong HQ is located off Burleigh-Connection Rd and encompasses buildings with a net lettable area of 15,000sq m including retail, showroom, warehouse, and office space for 200 employees.

In the wake of its takeover of Billabong, Boardriders announced it would close Billabong’s Helensvale distribution centre and move its own HQ to Burleigh.

The former headquarters of surfwear giant Billabong (middle, sand-coloured roof) at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast has sold.

As part of the sale Boardriders has committed to leasing back the property for 12 years on a triple net lease basis with an option to extend the lease for five years. The consideration for the first year’s rental is $3 million. The total cost of the transaction to AIMS is $41.5 million, taking into account stamp duty, acquisition fees and other costs.

The company now owns the Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, DC Shoes, RVCA, Element, VonZipper, Xcel, Kustom and Palmers brands. The vendor for the Burleigh property was GSM Rocket Australia Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boardriders.

Last year AIMS bought AMP Capital’s stake in the Singapore trust manager for more than $100 million in total, giving it full control in the trust management company, and more that 17 per cent of the Singapore REIT.