This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
BUNNINGS landlord BWP Trust has completed its takeover of the manager of Newmark Property REIT (NPR), on its way to creating the owner of a $3.5 billion large-format retail portfolio.
BWP Management Limited has acquired 100% of the shares in Newmark REIT Management Limited (NRML) and removed former Hawthorn AFL star Christopher Langford, Mark Allan, Andrew Erikson and Melinda Snowden as directors of NRML, and appointed Fiona Harris and Mark Scatena as directors.
BWP now has a 65.77% interest in NPR securities, above the minimum acceptance of 50.1% of securities required for the merger to progress.
BWP’s offer, announced in January, sees NPR shareholders receive 0.4 BWP securities for every NPR security, representing a price of $1.39. This was a 43.1% premium to NPR’s previous closing price before the asset, but below its $1.90 float price in December 2021 and a discount to net assets per unit.
The closing date for the offer is 12th April.
The resulting entity would be a $3.5 billion landlord of Bunnings-anchored large-format retail centres, including a $560 million portfolio of NPR’s large-format properties. That includes four Melbourne Bunnings properties.
The deal also included a $22.5 million payment to acquire NRML, which caused a ruckus among investors dissatisfied with NPR’s performance on the ASX.
