Goodman is back in the spotlight, with suggestions state-owned investor China Investment Corporation could be testing the market to sell down its $5bn-plus interest in the $62bn Australian industrial property powerhouse.
CIC owns about 8.9 per cent of Goodman shares and also co-invests in its industrial property funds which own sheds, warehouses, data centres and distribution centres around the world.
It is understood institutional investors have received approaches from brokers, testing their interest in acquiring CIC shares in Goodman and fuelling suggestions they could soon be on the block.
The last time that CIC sold shares in Goodman was in 2012, when it offloaded a 6.9 per cent stake worth $518m, crystallising a profit on its initial and much larger investment, which was made in the midst of the Global Financial Crisis.
It comes at a time when China’s economy is slowing and it faces high tariffs in the US if Donald Trump is elected president in November.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that low consumption has become a headwind to China’s growth because property investment, once a major component of demand, has collapsed.
Goodman has historically been close to investment bank Macquarie Capital, but the last time CIC embarked on a block trade out of Goodman it called on the services of Goldman Sachs.
At the time, CIC’s policy was to obtain bids from three separate brokers over the price.
Other global banks with strong relationships in Asia could be in the frame, including Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Citi.
Goodman’s share price has been on the rise in the past year, from about $22 to $32, as investors sought exposure to data centres.
They remain in strong demand because of the need for artificial intelligence and cloud storage.
For the year to June, Goodman generated a $98.9m loss despite a lift in operating earnings.
Assets under management fell and the value of its property was down almost 3 per cent to $78.7bn.
Meanwhile, supermarket giant Woolworths, is expected to soon offload its remaining 4.1 per cent interest in Endeavour, which is worth about $390m.
Woolworths sold a 5 per cent interest for $486m at $5.22 a share in April each as it distanced itself from a company that has pokies within its hotels.
Endeavour shares were trading at $5.32 on Friday.
The company, which owns pubs and the Dan Murphys and BWS liquor stores, is worth just over $9bn.
Wealthy publican Bruce Mathieson owns 15 per cent of Endeavour, which was spun out of Woolworths in 2021.
Jarden worked on the last block trade.
Woolworths sold a 5.5 per cent stake in 2022 at $6.46 a share, after initially owning 14.6 per cent.
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