This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Muir family is selling off a portfolio of 15 properties leased to The Good Guys, the electronics and home appliances group it founded in 1952, with an anticipated $130 million return.
JB Hi-Fi’s $870 million buyout of The Good Guys in September prompted the family, which has maintained control of the freeholds, to sell the portfolio and potentially bring it around $1 billion since the takeover.
The portfolio contains properties in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, and was initially speculated to comprise more than 20 sites.
They are being marketed individually by Savills agents Nick Peden, Clinton Baxter and Steven Lerchevia expressions of interest closing May 17, with prices expected to start at around $2.5 million.
Of the 15 assets, 12 are located in Victoria and New South Wales. The Victorian properties are in Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Hoppers Crossing, Mildura and Thomastown, whilst the NSW contingent includes sites at Albury, Ballina, Bathurst, Caringbah, Coffs Harbour and Warrawong.
The remainder are located at Cairns and Ipswich in Queensland, and at O’Connor in WA.
The Good Guys, which began trading 65 years ago as Mighty Muirs, recorded $2.09 billion in revenue in the 2016 financial year and has outlasted big-name competitors including Dick Smith, Retravision and Betta Electrical.
Peden said interest had already been received from local, interstate and offshore parties in the portfolio.
“Of the retail properties that have come to market in recent times none have offered such a combination of geographical diversity, with exceptional underlying land value and a blue-chip tenancy profile.
“This is the perfect opportunity for investors small and large to add high profile retail assets to their portfolios, indeed we have already fielded early interest from the local market plus enquiries from Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, and that should be no surprise given the significant Asian interest in prime Australian retail assets,” Peden said.
Baxter said the wide price range of the assets, exceptional main road locations in key commercial precincts and attractive rental returns, together with blue-chip tenancy profiles would appeal to a wide range of investors ranging from SMSFs to private investors, syndicators and property funds, based locally and offshore.
Australian Property Journal
