Gandel eyes life after charter
RETAIL property billionaire John Gandel is selling his near $500 million stake in the Charter Hall Group and its listed retail trust.
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RETAIL property billionaire John Gandel is selling his near $500 million stake in the Charter Hall Group and its listed retail trust.
The move comes as he focuses his attention on rival Vicinity Centres and his holding in Chadstone Shopping Centre.
In two shock block trades on Thursday, Mr Gandel moved to sell a $488 million holding in the Charter Hall empire.
Both sales are fully underwritten by Macquarie Capital and the shares are being sold to third-party investors.
The Gandel Group said it had entered into a block trade agreement to sell 79.17 million Charter Hall securities, which amounts to a 19.18 per cent stake.
The $396 million deal has been set at a floor price of $5 for each security and investors have been asked to bid up in 2c increments.
That price is a 7.1 per cent discount on the $5.38 closing price of Charter Hall securities on Wednesday, before Mr Gandel’s moves were announced on Thursday.
Charter Hall stock was put in a trading halt ahead of the announcement.
Gandel has also struck a deal to sell its 5.65 per cent interest in Charter Hall Retail Real Estate Investment Trust.
Macquarie is managing a $92 million block trade in the trust, with the deal set at a fixed price of $4.02 for each security — a 3.5 per cent discount to the last closing price.
Gandel offered Charter Hall the chance to participate in the Charter Hall Retail sell down.
In a statement, the Gandel Group said its investment in Charter Hall, a $17.9 billion company, had been successful. The group noted it had bought in 2009, helping to “recapitalise and grow the business” after the financial crisis.
“We are pleased to have contributed to the development of CHC (Charter Hall) and its strategy and believe the business is well placed to continue its success,” the statement said.
The private Melbourne-based group said the sale was part of its “broader corporate planning” and it would focus its resources and capital on Vicinity Centres and Melbourne flagship Chadstone Shopping Centre.
It said its commitment to these investments was unchanged.
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