Challenger completes CRE sale for reduced sum



Challenger has completed the sale of its Australian real estate business to Elanor Investors Group for $38 million.
This is a smaller sum than the $42 million initially put forward in April 2023 and Challenger said the lower figure reflects the termination of one third-party institutional mandate.
Elanor has secured the transfer of a third-party institutional mandate with a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) as part of the acquisition.
Challenger will transfer 4.5 million in Elanor securities to ADIC following the mandate transfer with the securities subject to buyback from Challenger based on certain milestones.
The $38 million consideration is received in 24.8 million new securities issued by Elanor representing 17 per cent of Elanor securities on issue, down slightly from 18 per cent in the April announcement.
Challenger and Elanor will now establish a strategic partnership including a exclusive distribution agreement where
Challenger’s multi-affiliate business Fidante will distribute Elanor’s new and existing funds. Elanor will become Challenger’s commercial real estate partner in Australia and New Zealand.
This supports Challenger’s strategy to expand the fund management offering by leveraging Fidante’s distribution capabilities with Elanor’s real estate platform to create a new Fidante affiliate manager.
Challenger managing director and chief executive, Nick Hamilton, said: “The combination of Challenger’s real estate platform with Elanor will provide a significant uplift in capability and scale.
“Challenger will benefit from both alignment and access to growth via the acquisition of a strategic stake in Elanor and we are excited to continue to grow the real estate platform together with the Elanor team.”
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