The seed assets of the platform, collectively worth approximately A$130.5 million, are to be managed by a newly created investment manager, ILP Managers Pty Ltd, a 50-50 joint venture between Commercial & General and Straits Real Estate.
The seed assets comprise several of Commercial & General’s existing assets, including South Australian sites tenanted by Incitec Pivot, Coca-Cola and Transfield and a Victorian site tenanted by Siemens.
"Advising our long standing client, Commercial & General, on the formation of the significant partnership with Straits Real Estate has been an absolute privilege and marks yet another milestone in their growth," said Mr Abwi. "Commercial & General is an experienced and exciting player in the real estate market and is building relations with strategic partners to pursue opportunities in this space."
Commercial & General is one of Australia’s most respected – and fastest growing – property development and investment management leaders. The company develops, constructs, manages and invests in high quality commercial, industrial, healthcare and residential properties throughout Australia.
The Straits Trading Company Limited is an investment company with stakes in real estate, hospitality, resources and investments that span Asia Pacific. It owns an 89.5% stake in Straits Real Estate, an investment vehicle that seeks out real estate related opportunities globally.
The partnership with Commercial & General is Straits Real Estate’s first step into Australian logistics, expanding on the company’s footprint in the country.
MinterEllison's role involved negotiating and managing a complex multi-party, multi-jurisdictional transaction. This included the firm advising on the structuring and regulatory aspects of the establishment of the joint venture platform and the management vehicle, appointment of external trustees, selling seed assets owned by Commercial & General into the joint venture structure, obtaining FIRB approval in respect of the acquisition of a vacant land site, navigating existing financing arrangements and negotiating refinancing of two new debt facilities.
The MinterEllison team was led by Wissam Abwi (Partner). He was supported by Daniel Marks, Leah Wright, David Moore (Partners). The wider team included Adrian Swale (Consultant), Janet Yeung (Senior Associate), Jeremy Chew (Senior Associate), Mellissa Lai (Senior Associate), Ashika Binodan (Associate), Mark Hautop (Associate), Yanna Dascarolis (Associate), Tom Kelly (Associate), Sonia Shantilal (Lawyer), Beau Leong (Lawyer) and Daniel Pruze (Lawyer).
