Australian fund manager QIC, Lend Lease and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) are expected to be the main suitors for stakes worth A$665 million ($689.57 million) in Centro Retail Australia's shopping malls, a source close to the transaction said.
Centro, which has A$6.9 billion of shopping centres under management inAustralia, said last week it would seek capital partners to jointly own three shopping malls in Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide. Centro is asking potential suitors to buy up to 50 percent ownership in the assets, the combined total book value of which is more than A$1.3 billion.
"It is expected that the main parties looking at it would be QIC, CPPIB, Lend Lease," said the source, who declined to be identified.
A spokesman for CPPIB in Australia declined to comment while Lend Lease could not be reached immediately for comment.
Robert Carter, managing director of QIC global real estate (QIC GRE), said his firm did not comment on market speculation.
"As a leading institutional investor, QIC Global Real Estate's operations are commercial in confidence," Carter told Reuters via email.
Despite the subdued retail environment in Australia, shopping malls have been highly sought-after by investors for the stable income they offer.
Retail property transaction volumes totaled $3.2 billion in 2011 with a further $537.8 million recorded so far in 2012, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, which is also an agent on the Centro deal.
Canada's CPPIB has been active in the Australia property market including taking up a 50 percent joint venture interest in Melbourne's Northland Shopping Centre for A$455 million in May 2011. ($1 = 0.9644 Australian dollars)
