This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE GPT Wholesale Office Fund has raised $578 million from a combination of existing investors and six new investors – exceeding its original target of $400 million.
The capital raised comprises $414 million in new equity and the balance represents commitments to satisfy the requests of existing investors to sell their secondary holdings.
GPT participated in the raising and has retained its interest in the fund of approximately one third. The remaining GWOF investor base of 30 investors is made up of predominantly domestic super funds, offshore pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.
GPT’s head of wholesale Nicholas Harris was very pleased with the level of interest received.
He added that in a challenging market the fund attracted new investors, which has provided GWOF with an even broader base of capital partners going forward.
“The equity raised will reduce the fund’s gearing from approximately 25% to 12%, one of the lowest in the sector. It will strengthen the fund’s balance sheet and provides capacity to fund future opportunities,” Harris added.
GPT’s CEO Michael Cameron said the capital raising was very successful despite recent global events.
“This strong institutional demand demonstrates the high quality of one of Australia’s leading office portfolios and the general view in the market that asset values have bottomed,” he said.
The raising was offered to investors at the Fund’s Current Unit Value. The secondary units in the fund were offered at a nominal discount to CUV.
Australian Property Journal
