Canberra’s NewActon Nishi Building sold for $256m

The Centuria Metropolitan REIT bought the A-grade office mixed use complex and also unveiled an underwritten institutional placement to raise $185m at $3.00 per unit.

It will also undertake a $10 million non-underwritten unit purchase plan and has benefited from $30.8 million worth of property revaluations.

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The placement is at a 4.8% discount to Centuria’s close on Monday and is being handled by Moelis Australia and UBS.

The trust kept its Funds From Operations guidance for this financial year at 19c per unit and distribution guidance of 17.8c per unit was reaffirmed.

The overall Centuria operation, led by John McBain and Jason Huljich, has been on an acquisition spree and has grown to $7 billion of assets under management.

The raising comes after larger trusts including Dexus, Mirvac and GPT, tapped the market, alongside trusts run by Charter Hall.

Abacus, Growthpoint and National Storage also raised equity.

Centuria fund manager Grant Nichols says the acquisition reinforces the trust’s position as Australia’s “largest listed pure play office REIT, by building a diversified portfolio of quality office assets underpinned by strong tenant covenants”.

NewActon Nishi Building is a high quality A-grade commercial office asset, leased predominantly to the federal government and strategically located in NewActon, a vibrant and gentrifying precinct within Civic, Canberra, he says.

JLL’s Tim Mutton and Rob Sewell and Colliers International’s Paul Powderly brokered the sale of the complex that they dubbed one of the country’s best mixed-use precincts.

The sale includes the office component, the Ovolo Hotel and a cinema.

The building was sold by the private developer the Molonglo Group.

This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.