Propertylink Group (PLG) has expressed interest in the outstanding units in Centuria Industrial real estate investment trust (REIT) (CIP) by submitting a non-binding proposal.
The proposed acquisition would be conducted by way of an off-market takeover offer for a combination of cash and PLG securities: 2.5327 PLG securities and $0.33 cash for each CIP unit.
PLG said the proposal would be subject to it acquiring at least 50.1 per cent of CIP units.
Following this, the firm said it did not intend to make a facilitation payment to CIP’s responsible entity in connection with the proposal.
The rationale for the proposal included an attempt to grow the investment management business by establishing new funds and providing securityholders with superior risk-adjusted returns via the company’s active approach to asset management, Propertylink said.
The company said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that acquiring CIP was a logical progression in the execution of its strategy and the rationale was compelling for CIP unitholders and Propertylink securityholders.
Also, by acquiring 100 per cent of CIP, PLG hoped to become the largest A-REIT focused on the ownership of Australian industrial real estate with a combined portfolio of A$1.8 billion, increase geographical and tenant diversification as well as “significantly improve its market position, scale and liquidity with the combined group likely to be eligible for inclusion in the S&P/ASX 200 Index”.
Propertylink’s chief executive and managing director, Stuart Dawes, said: “An acquisition of CIP would more than double the size of our wholly owned industrial portfolio, in particular providing our securityholders with greater exposure to the Sydney and Melbourne industrial markets where we are seeing strong opportunities from the emerging themes of e-commerce and urbanisation.”
