Login
Cross-border real estate deal completed
Singapore-based AEP Investment Management acquired a Brisbane tower with assistance from two global firms.
Lara Bullock
Firms: Norton Rose Fulbright (AEP Investment Management); Herbert Smith Freehills (QIC and the financiers)
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Deal: AEP Investment Management acquired 41 George Street, Brisbane from two QIC funds.
Value: $159.8 million
Area: Real Estate
Key players: The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by partners Natalie Breen (Singapore) and Michael French (Brisbane), who worked closely with partners Dale Rayner (Brisbane), John Moutsopoulos (Sydney) and Davide Barzilai (Hong Kong).
Deal significance: Singapore-based AEP Investment Management (AEPiM) acquired a 27-storey tower located at 41 George Street, Brisbane from two QIC funds.
The tower was sold for $159.8 million to Basil Property Trust, a Shariah-compliant, cross-border business space fund managed by AEPiM.
The building was almost wholly leased to the State of Queensland and is situated in a precinct that is emerging as a new hub for entertainment, government and education, according to a statement from Norton Rose Fulbright.
Natalie Breen, Norton Rose Fulbright's partner in Singapore, said: “We are continuing to see strong demand from Asia-based investors into Australian commercial real estate and expect that to continue in 2016.”
Michael French, Norton Rose Fulbright's Brisbane partner (pictured), said: “The fact that the Basil Property Trust is a Shariah-compliant fund made the debt and derivative work particularly innovative, as the loan was one of the few Shariah-compliant facilities for a property purchase in Australia.”
