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Freehills acts on largest property sale of the year
Freehills has acted for Malaysia's biggest fund management company on its $287 million purchase of Brisbane's Santos Place._x000D_
The New Lawyer
FREEHILLS has acted for Malaysia’s biggest fund management company on its $287 million purchase of Brisbane’s Santos Place. To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in. Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more! The deal involves the largest single property sale in Australia this year. Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) made its first international property acquisition and its first acquisition in Australia with the purchase of Brisbane's Santos. Freehills partner Michael Back said the sale would boost the Brisbane office market, as well as introduce a new international player to the Australian property market. PNB toppled bids from a number of competitors to purchase the 36 storey, 35,000 square metre building which opened in August 2009. The building is over 95 per cent fully let and has several major tenants including Santos and Aurecon, who both lease several floors in the building as well as a number of barrister's chambers. PNB was incorporated in 1978 as part of the government's economic policy to promote share ownership in the corporate sector on behalf of Malaysia's indigenous (Bumiputra) people, and is now a $54 billion investment group. Freehills advised PNB on all aspects of the transaction including due diligence, negotiations with the vendor and the vendor's agent and all relevant government agencies including FIRB. The Freehills team was led by partner Michael Back and senior associate Julie Jankowski. Darren Anderson from Broadley Rees Hogan acted for the vendor.
