Charter Hall Group (Charter Hall or the Group) today announced that its Core Logistics Partnership (CLP or the Fund) has sold 2-30 Saintly Drive in Truganina, Victoria to Barings for $94.1 million, in line with book value, and with a passing yield of 4.7%.

CLP acquired the industrial property in 2015 for $41.7 million. It comprises three modern warehouses totalling 46,933 square metres, primarily leased to Catch.com.au and Efflog Operations with a weighted average lease expiry of 2.4 years.

The Fund will use proceeds of the sale to redeploy capital into accretive investments, including development of existing land banks, such as Charter Hall’s first inner-city multi-level warehouse in Sydney known as Ascent on Bourke.

CLP Fund Manager, Simon Greig, said, “Central to CLP’s strategy is delivering advanced industrial facilities and creating value for our investors. With a significant development pipeline in place, this sale enables us unlock capital that will be recycled into new opportunities for growth and drive greater returns for our investors.”

Barings, through its acquisition of Altis, has been investing in Australian real estate for 15 years and today has over A$6.3b Australian real estate AUM, with more than 49 real estate investments nationally, employing over 44 professionals across our Australian offices.

James King, Director – Investment Management at Barings said: “Barings is excited to complete the acquisition of a high-quality asset on behalf of the venture.

Notwithstanding the current economic environment, we remain attracted to industrial real estate in Australia on a long-term basis. Our ambition is to continue to seek out both development and value-add opportunities across the major metropolitan markets of Australia.”

“Barings’ capability is able to capitalise on opportunities across the entire industrial and logistics risk spectrum of stabilised and value-add assets, short and long-dated developments, and geographies across Australia.”

Andrew Lill, Chief Investment Officer at Rest said: "We believe increasing exposure to the industrial property sector by leveraging Barings’ industrial expertise will benefit our members with the historically tight vacancy rates, sustained tenant demand, and strong long-term outlooks.

“The industrial investments made through the venture will further diversify Rest’s property investments and improve investment outcomes for our members. Rest is excited to expand our relationship with Barings into the industrial property sector in Australia and generate investment opportunities like 2-30 Saintly Drive, Truganina.”

Neva Courts, Director - Melbourne Real Estate at Barings said: “The key characteristics which attracted us to this asset include the high-quality facility, strong holding

income, positive supply and demand dynamic in the precinct, and attractive entry pricing. Our strategy is to focus on leasing initiatives to improve the income profile and targeted capex to expand the sustainable operations framework. This includes reducing all scopes of emissions and increasing access to renewable energy.”

The transaction was brokered by Tony Iuliano of Cushman & Wakefield.