Blackstone offloads Wollongong’s Figtree Grove Shopping Centre to Moelis and SPH REIT for $206m

Blackstone has offloaded its Figtree Grove shopping centre in Wollongong to Moelis and SPH REIT for $206m.

Figtree Grove Shopping Centre has been sold to Moelis and SPH REIT

Private equity giant Blackstone has carved off another slice of its $3 billion portfolio of shopping centres with Singaporean group SPH REIT teaming with the asset management arm of investment bank Moelis to buy Figtree Grove Shopping Centre in Wollongong for $206 million.

The Singaporean company will take an 85 per cent stake in Figtree Grove and the Moelis unit will take up a 15 per cent interest.

The subregional shopping centre is one of a portfolio of 11 centres Blackstone took to market as a portfolio but then withdrew as sentiment turned against either a float or a strategic buyer emerging.

The 21,984sq m centre is anchored by a 24-hour Kmart, Coles and Woolworths supermarkets and two mini-majors, with 72 specialty stores, nine kiosks, four ATMs and two external tenancies, and one pad site.

The deal marks SPH REIT’s entry into Australia and is in line with its strategy of buying retail properties in Asia Pacific.

It was struck at a yield of 6 per cent and was brokered by Lachlan MacGillivray of Colliers International.

SPH REIT Manager chief executive Susan Leng said Figtree Grove Shopping Centre was a “strategic fit” with the existing portfolio.

Moelis, that is led by Andrew Pridham, has built up a $3.5bn asset management empire and this month floated the Redcape Hotel Group.

Moelis Australia head of real estate asset management Chris Monaghan said the partnership with SPH REIT fitted with its strategy of working with strong offshore investment groups to acquire investment grade assets with upside potential.

The chop up of the Blackstone portfolio began with the listed Elanor Investors Group buying the Waverley Gardens shopping centre in Mulgrave in Melbourne for $178m. US real estate group Heitman and other local partners backed a new fund by Elanor that owns the centre.