Oxford Properties has expanded into Australia with its A$3.4bn (£1.9bn) take-private acquisition of the Investa Office Fund.
The acquisition gives Oxford Properties, the real estate arm of Canada’s OMERS pension fund, 19 assets across Sydney, Melbourne (pictured above), Brisbane, Perth and Canberra as the global investor expands its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
With a recently opened regional headquarters in Singapore, Oxford Properties said it plans to build “significant and diversified long-term exposure to Australia”.
Investa Office Management will continue to manage the portfolio, which has been renamed Oxford Investa Property Partners.
Oxford Properties will sell a number of non-core assets in the portfolio to recycle capital and reposition it, focusing on investments that it intends to hold for the long term.
The company secured a A$2.2bn debt facility through a syndicate comprising Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ING Bank, Morgan Stanley and Westpac Banking Corporation to fund the acquisition.
Paul Brundage, head of Europe and Asia-Pacific at Oxford Properties, said; “Completing this transaction in just 100 days is a testament to our team’s ability to rapidly execute large-scale and complex transactions in markets across the globe.
“We see a lot of runway to grow our business in Australia, leveraging the immediate scale created by this transaction. Oxford has a deep and long-held commitment to customers, communities and city building, and we look forward to continuing this tradition and building strong relationships with all stakeholders in the Australian market.”
Oxford Properties has this year made a number of expansionary moves across the globe, including its first foray into European logistics after signing a deal with GLP to invest £200m in its Europe Development Partners I portfolio.
In July, it formed an investment platform with Delancey client fund DV4 to take 39% ownership of Get Living’s 2,000-home London portfolio and its 4,000-home development pipeline in the regions.
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