REAL ESTATE – AUSTRALIA – RETAIL

Woolies nets $1.5b as it exits from hardware

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Original article by James Thomson, Sarah Thompson, John Stensholt, Anthony Macdonald
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 25-Aug-16

Australian-listed retailer Woolworths has advised that its Masters Home Improvement stores will be closed by mid-December 2016. Woolworths will sell the Home Timber & Hardware business to Mitre 10 owner Metcash for $A165m. Meanwhile, the Home Consortium will pay $A725m for 61 Masters stores and 21 development sites, with plans to convert the stores into large-format retail centres with multiple tenants. In a separate deal, the Australian arm of US auction house Great American Group will pay about $A500m for the Masters hardware inventory.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HOME TIMBER AND HARDWARE, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, MITRE 10 LIMITED, HOME CONSORTIUM, GREAT AMERICAN GROUP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SPOTLIGHT STORES PTY LTD, CHEMIST WAREHOUSE, AURRUM PTY LTD, ANACONDA STORES PTY LTD, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, THE GOOD GUYS, DAN MURPHY’S, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, BAKER AND McKENZIE, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD

Harvey Norman takes a look at Dick Smith’s Move stores

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 1-Mar-16

The financial accounts of Dick Smith Holdings show that it posted a loss of $A60.5m in November 2015 and $A100.3m in December. Meanwhile, rival retailer Harvey Norman has indicated that it might be interested in taking over Dick Smith’s four Move stores that are located at airports. Executive chairman Gerry Harvey says he usually shuns airport stores due to high rents and overheads, adding that he would only be interested in taking over the Move leases if the stores are profitable.

CORPORATES
DICK SMITH HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX DSH, MOVE, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, FERRIER HODGSON AND COMPANY, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD, CLIVE PEETERS, RICK HART DISCOUNTS

Four malls to go in Vicinity sale

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Original article by Mercedes Ruehl, Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 3-Feb-16

JLL will market four shopping centres on behalf of Australian-listed Vicinity Centres, which revealed plans for up to $A1bn of asset sales in late 2015. The properties to be sold are the Forest Hill Chase and Brimbank shopping centres in Victoria and the Clifford Gardens and Toombul shopping centres in Queensland. Vicinity boasts some $A23 billion worth of assets under management.

CORPORATES
VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOREST HILL CHASE, BRIMBANK SHOPPING CENTRE, CLIFFORD GARDENS SHOPPING CENTRE, TOOMBUL SHOPPING CENTRE, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF, NOVION PROPERTY GROUP

World Square sale caps $7.6b investment surge

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Original article by Mercedes Ruehl
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 57 : 23-Dec-15

Some $A7.6bn worth of shopping centres have changed hands in 2015, including a record $A2.7bn in the fourth quarter. In one of the latest deals, ISPT will pay $A285m for a 50 per cent stake in Sydney’s World Square shopping centre. Other groups that have been active in Australia’s retail property sector in recent months include Blackstone, AMP Capital, Vicinity Centres and Challenger.

CORPORATES
ISPT PTY LTD, BLACKSTONE REAL ESTATE ADVISORS LLC, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF, BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT INCORPORATED, ABU DHABI INVESTMENT COMPANY, WORLD SQUARE PTY LTD, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, CITY OF SYDNEY, SHOPPING CENTRE NEWS

Vicinity to sell up to $1b of mall assets

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan, Mercedes Ruehl
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 15-Dec-15

Australian-listed Vicinity Centres plans to divest between $A750m and $A1bn worth of shopping centres during the next 12 months. Proceeds of the asset sales will be used to reduce debt, finance acquisitions and be reinvested in the redevelopment of its other assets. Vicinity has identified one bulky goods property in Queensland that it intends to sell, and CEO Angus McNaughton has flagged an exit from this asset class.

CORPORATES
VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, NOVION PROPERTY GROUP, CHADSTONE SHOPPING CENTRE, WARRIEWOOD SHOPPING CENTRE

EY warns of cyber threat to real estate

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 40 : 25-Nov-15

Professional services firm EY has released a report which highlights the risks associated with the growing use of digital technologies in buildings. Richard Watson of EY notes that so-called SMART buildings are especially vulnerable to computer hackers. He says a building’s tenants would be the first to be impacted by a cyber attack on the property’s digital infrastructure, but landlords would ultimately have to compensate tenants for loss of revenue and damage to their reputation.

CORPORATES
ERNST AND YOUNG

Retail gets highest marks in REIT reporting season

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 40 : 16-Sep-15

Analysis by CLSA shows that the operating income of Australian retail-focused real estate investment trusts rose by 2.9 per cent during the August 2015 reporting season. This compares with growth of 2.2 per cent for industrial property trusts and 1.5 per cent for those with a focus on the office market. Michael Scott of CLSA is upbeat about the outlook for retail REITs, citing factors such as the improving outlook for retail sales.

CORPORATES
CSM AUSTRALIA, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, FEDERATION CENTRES – ASX FDC, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS

Retail A-REIT rejig mix to safeguard earnings

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 3-Sep-15

Earnings growth was driven by specialty tenants such as cinemas, fashion and food, according to listed retail property trusts. Fund managers predicted further attention to the tenant mix in malls to enhance portfolio quality. Attracting global brands also remained a focus.

CORPORATES
CHARTER HALL RETAIL REIT – ASX CQR, FEDERATION CENTRES – ASX FDC, NOVION PROPERTY GROUP, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, SHOPPING CENTRES AUSTRALASIA PROPERTY GROUP – ASX SCP, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, BWP TRUST – ASX BWP, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED

Charter Hall to raise $55m for Automotive

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 43 : 20-Aug-15

Charter Hall is setting up a new unlisted retail property trust. The Charter Hall Direct Automotive Trust will hold $A102 million worth of properties which are to be acquired from the Automotive Holdings Group (AHG) and a syndicate managed by API. The acquired properties will be leased back to AHG. Charter Hall is seeking $A55 million from investors for the new fund.

CORPORATES
CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, AUTOMOTIVE HOLDINGS GROUP LIMITED – ASX AHG, API FUND, MAZDA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CORE PROPERTY PTY LTD

Woolworths to offload two key DJs sites

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 23-Jul-15

Woolworths Holdings CEO Ian Moir says the South African group plans to reinvest the proceeds of David Jones asset sales into the department store business. Woolworths is set to sell one of the David Jones stores in both the Melbourne and Sydney CBDs. The two stores could fetch around $A400m in total, and Moir says the remaining two stores in the CBDs will be expanded and upgraded. The David Jones food halls will also be upgraded at a cost of $A8m.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, COUNTRY ROAD LIMITED, WITCHERY FASHIONS PTY LTD, TRENERY, SEED, FCUK