Centuria Capital Group has announced the acquisition of a NZ$178.3million Visy Glass industrial facility in Auckland, via Augusta Capital – Centuria’s New Zealand platform, on a 20-year sale-and-leaseback, triple net lease.

With more than $700million of healthcare and industrial assets secured since the beginning of FY21, a further c.$300million under due diligence, and the additional Visy Glass acquisition, Centuria’s assets under management (AUM) are set to expand to $10billion.

The additional earnings associated with this AUM expansion has prompted Centuria to upgrade its FY21 guidance with operating Earnings Per Security (EPS) guidance increasing to 11.5 –12.5 cents per security, up 9.1% from previous guidance , and Distribution Per Security (DPS) guidance increasing to 9.0 cents per security, up 5.9% from previous guidance .

The Visy Glass facility will form a new, New Zealand single asset unlisted fund, underwritten by Centuria. It will be the largest single asset unlisted fund launched by Centuria to date and is transformative for Augusta Capital, bringing the New Zealand operation to scale ahead of schedule.

John McBain, Centuria Joint CEO, said “The Visy Glass acquisition in New Zealand follows the recent $416.7million acquisition of Telstra’s data centre in Victoria and Centuria is pleased to partner with both groups in these initiatives. Centuria has upgraded both its operating EPS guidance and DPS guidance following strong property funds management activity to date in FY21 with a meaningful proportion of these earnings generated from our New Zealand business unit underpinning our ongoing confidence in this acquisition.”

Jason Huljich, Centuria Joint CEO, added, “The industrial sector in both Australia and New Zealand has enjoyed exceptional growth over the past three years and we continue to take advantage of these tailwinds. Together with recent healthcare property transactions, Centuria is on track to expand assets under management to $10billion, a 14% increase in since the end of FY20.”

The acquisition extends Centuria’s relationship with Visy, with more than 123,000 sqm leased to the international paper, packaging and recycling company across Centuria’s industrial platform. It is one of the Group’s largest clients.

The Visy Glass facility is New Zealand’s only glass bottle and jar manufacturing site since 1922. It provides a 20-year WALE and 100% occupancy. The 8.6-hectare site, at 752 Great South Road in Penrose, is located approximately nine kilometres from Auckland’s CBD and 15km from the Auckland International Airport.

Mark Francis, Augusta Capital Managing Director, said, “We have a long history and successful track record in single-asset unlisted funds. The Visy Glass acquisition will be our third equity raise in New Zealand this year, following the Augusta Property Fund and NZX-listed Asset Plus initiatives. This is indicative of the strong investor appetite for funds underpinned by quality assets delivering robust yields against the current low interest rate environment.

“The Visy acquisition is also demonstrative of our merged business’ capabilities. With Centuria’s strong balance sheet, we are able to act on larger, high quality market opportunities to the benefit of our deep investor network.”

Centuria’s industrial portfolio includes 90 properties worth $3.1billion. This is a significant increase from 2017 when the company assumed management of the former 360 Capital industrial portfolio, which included 36 assets worth c.$900million.

The Visy Glass acquisition will be funded by a $100million equity raising including an $80.5million entitlement offer and $19.5million fully underwritten institutional Placement . After the equity raising, Centuria will have approximately $105million of working capital available.