Property giant Dexus buys huge $683m stake in Scentre Group’s Westfield Chermside
A major property giant has dropped $683m to buy a 25 per cent share in Westfield Chermside, valuing Australia’s second largest regional shopping centre at more than $2.7bn.
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Property giant Dexus will buy a share in Australia’s second largest regional shopping centre in a multimillion dollar deal valuing the whole property at more than $2.7bn.
Its flagship retail fund, Dexus Wholesale Shopping Centre Fund has exchanged contracts with Scentre Group to acquire a 25 per cent interest in Westfield Chermside, Brisbane, for $683m.
The acquisition aligns with DWSF’s strategy of owning market-leading retail assets with strong growth potential.
Westfield Chermside is home to David Jones, Myer, BIG W, Kmart, Target, Coles, Woolworths, Apple, an Event Cinemas complex and has about 476 specialty stores, including Sephora, Uniqlo and a host of local and international brands, alongside a leisure and dining precinct.
In the last calendar year customer visitation was 17.6 million and total annual retail sales was $1.35bn.
Dexus executive general manager, retail Kirrily Lord said Westfield Chermside’s scale, performance metrics and community integration make it an exceptional addition to the Fund’s our retail platform, delivering both immediate performance and long-term value creation.
Scentre Group said the purchase price represented Scentre Group’s book value at June 30 and a valuation capitalisation rate of 5 per cent.
Westfield Chermside is 20 minutes north of Brisbane’s CBD, and Australia’s second-largest regional shopping centre by both sales and gross lettable area.
It was originally known as the Chermside Drive-In Shopping Centre, opened in 1957, as Australia’s first drive-in shopping centre.
Developed by Allan & Stark, the centre featured an Allan & Stark department store – later acquired by Myer – a small arcade, and 700 parking spaces.
It was a groundbreaking concept at the time and is now the largest single-level shopping centre in Australia.
Scentre Group will remain property, leasing and development manager for the joint venture.
Scentre Group chief executive Elliott Rusanow said sourcing new capital through joint ventures continued to form a key part of the Group’s capital management strategy.
“Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Group has been successful in sourcing funding through innovative and various sources, without diluting securityholder equity,” he said.
“Today’s announcement is another step in the Group’s long term funding strategy.
“The proceeds from this transaction will provide the Group with further capital to pursue our strategic objectives of creating long- term value for securityholders.”
Originally published as Property giant Dexus buys huge $683m stake in Scentre Group’s Westfield Chermside
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