Macquarie acquires stake in Investa Office Fund

The banking group’s subsidiary, Macquarie Real Estate Investment Holding (MREI), reached an agreement with the subsidiary of the Investa Commercial Property Fund (ICPF), ICPF Holdco, to acquire 50 per cent of its stake in the Australian Securities Exchange-listed IOF.

Investa Wholesale Funds Management (IWFML), the entity responsible for ICPF, held nearly 120 million shares in IOF, which represents a stake of just under 20 per cent (19.9973 per cent).

This takes MREI’s equity stake in IOF to around 10 per cent.

The announcement comes after nine months of negotiations between the parties, and just a few months after global asset manager Blackstone tabled an all-cash, indicative proposal to acquire Investa Office Fund for $3.1 billion.

The ICPF board is still deliberating on the takeover, and it is unclear how it would vote on the Blackstone proposal on 21 August 2018.

However, in its opinion, entering the transaction with Macquarie Real Estate Investment Holding means it is no longer restricted by the Corporations Act from voting on any of the resolutions proposed by the IOF in relation to the Blackstone proposal.

The Investa Listed Funds Management Limited board advised IOF shareholders not to take any action in response to news of the transaction and said that it would continue to unanimously recommend that IOF shareholders vote in favour of the proposal, in absence of a better proposal.

MREI and ICPF have also entered a joint venture deed in relation to the Investa management platform, the details of which will be disclosed at a later date.

[Related: Fitch rates Macquarie Group]