Macquarie may privatise Charter Hall
A CONSORTIUM arranged by Australia’s Macquarie will seek to privatise Charter Hall Office if its proposed bid for the trust succeeds and retain Charter Hall Group as a manager, a Macquarie Capital executive said yesterday.
Charter Hall Office REIT said yesterday it had received a A$1.06bn bid approach for its Australian portfolio from a consortium led by Macquarie.
The consortium is considering an offer of A$2.39 per trust unit, which would give unit holders a total of A$3.52 after adding the proceeds from the recently announced sale of Charter Hall Office’s US assets.
“The proposal would see Charter Hall Office being privatised and the Consortium have made a condition of their proposal that Charter Hall Group be retained as the ongoing manager of the private vehicle,” Chris Green, joint global head for Macquarie Capital, real estate, said.
Macquarie Group originally sold management rights for the trust to Charter Hall in 2010 as Macquarie unwound its listed-funds model.
Asked about the proposed new deal, Green said Macquarie was acting as an arranger and adviser to the consortium.