Keppel REIT shells out S$192.4m in Aussie asset acquisition

It acquired 50% stake in 8 Exhibition Street.

In a release, Keppel REIT Management Limited announced that Keppel REIThas entered into an agreement with United Super Investments (8 Exhibition Street) Pty Ltd for the acquisition of their 50% interest in 8 Exhibition Street in Melbourne, Australia. 

8 Exhibition Street is located in the prime part of the Melbourne Central Business District and is one of the city’s architectural landmarks.

Rising on top of the historic Herald and Weekly Times Building, the 35-storey freehold prime commercial building has a total net lettable area of approximately 480,309 sf with 3,304 sf of ancillary retail space on the ground floor. The building has a 4.5 star NABERS energy rating.

8 Exhibition Street is 100% leased to well-established tenants in the financial, aviation, financial advisory, tax and transaction services sectors. Tenants enjoy good connectivity to the rest of the city with the building’s close proximity to various public transport nodes including tram, bus and rail services such as the major Parliament and Flinders Street railway stations which are within walking distance.

The Property enjoys unobstructed views of the Yarra River and the Royal Botanical Gardens located nearby.

The acquisition of the 50% interest in the Property, which is expected to be immediately accretive to Keppel REIT’s distribution per unit (“DPU”), is at a price of A$160.2 million or approximately S$192.4 million.

The Manager intends to fund the Acquisition with an optimal combination of equity and debt to provide DPU accretion to Unitholders, and work towards achieving an optimum level of gearing.