Blackstone to retain stake in listed Milestone

Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Global investment heavyweight Blackstone intends to retain a stake of about 45 per cent if it opts for an ASX listing of logistics group Milestone, according to sources.

Blackstone may seek to raise about $1.2bn in equity as part of an IPO, meaning Milestone’s market cap would be approaching $2.7bn if no new shares are issued.

The real estate and private equity group is also weighing a trade sale of the assets, an Australian logistics portfolio worth as much as $3.5bn.

Milestone CEO Chris Judd will front prospective investors from Thursday, flanked by investment management boss Matthew Meredith and finance chief Luke Oxenham. Mr Judd is well known in real estate circles after stints at AMP Capital and Multiplex.

Prospective investors will be told there is scope for greater penetration of online buying and shopping in Australia, and high returns for local logistics assets versus other sectors will be driven by investment scarcity.

Investors are closely scrutinising IPOs given the mixed trading results of a rush of floats in the final months of 2020.

Milestone is being touted as one of the nation’s few internally managed real estate investment trusts, and a pure-play logistics platform with 45 assets.

Investors will be told it has more than 90 tenants, including cold storage firm Lineage Logistics, WesTrac and Woolworths.

The company has a board in place should it be listed and it will be chaired by former Morgan Stanley Australia chief and Westpac board member Steve Harker, while independent directors include QBE general counsel Carolyn Scobie and former Deloitte and KPMG partner Stephanie Lai.

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are mandated to manage a Milestone IPO, while Eastdil Secured and JLL went out to property buyers.

Additional reporting: Joyce Moullakis