Oxford Properties acquires 50% interest in Investa Office Management

3 November 2020

Oxford Properties Group, who successfully acquired the Investa Office Fund in 2018 announced today that it has acquired a 50% interest in Investa Office Management Holdings Pty Limited (‘IOMH’) from MIRA Real Estate, part of Macquarie Group.

IOMH is the owner of the Investa Management Platform (‘IOM’), which is a fully integrated real estate company and fund management platform with almost A$12 billion in assets under management.

The remaining 50% of IOMH is owned by Investa Commercial Property Fund Holdings Limited (‘ICPFHL’), which is stapled to Investa Commercial Property Fund (‘ICPF’), a core prime office fund focused on prime grade office assets in the major Australian CBD markets.

The original acquisition by Macquarie of IOMH in 2018 was crucial to the success of the takeover of IOF by Oxford in that it removed many of the related party issues that the existing Responsible Entity had when considering the proposal.

It comes as no surprise now that Oxford have agreed to acquire the Macquarie interest.

Following Oxford’s $4.5 billion acquisition of Investa Office Fund (‘IOF’), the move has yielded exceptional results with the execution of a divestment program of 13 assets from the original IOF portfolio which raised $2.8 billion in proceeds, executed leasing deals of 109,000 square metres of office space and completed two successful redevelopments at 388 George Street and 347 Kent Street in Sydney.

The acquisition of the management platform will bolster Oxford’s on-the-ground operating capabilities with IOM acting as its partner across all of Oxford’s commercial office assets in Australia. IOM will also work with Oxford to implement its multifamily investment strategy in Australia, the first asset of which is Pitt Street South over-station development project in Sydney.

Alec Harper, Head of Australia at Oxford commented, “Our relationship with Investa has grown from strength to strength since our acquisition of IOF and the formation of OIPP, so it was a natural next step for Oxford to take a substantial equity position in IOMH. The investment gives Oxford
immediate access to a best-in-class operating platform, which will become our partner as we look to grow our presence in Australia.”

David Matheson, Head of Asia Pacific at Oxford added, “Australia is one of our highest conviction markets and our largest presence in Asia Pacific. The investment is a natural fit; our investment into IOMH gives immediate scale to our on-the-ground capabilities in Australia and will accelerate our ability to deploy capital in this market. Around the world, Oxford is building or investing in world-class businesses with world-class leadership which this transaction provides.

“We believe we can help grow IOM’s fund management business through our access to capital and deep relationships with global institutional investors. It also furthers our relationship with ICPF, which are already a co-owner on a number of OIPP assets and one of the best performing Australian office funds.”

David Baffsky, Chairman of ICPFHL said: “Oxford is an aligned and complementary partner for ICPF. Its purchase of a 50% interest in IOMH ensures continuity of services and personnel for the Fund, continued execution of ICPF’s investment strategy and maintains our existing management and governance structures.”

Jonathan Callaghan, CEO, Investa said: “We welcome Oxford as IOMH’s new co-owner. This transaction represents an exciting new phase for the business and we look forward to working closely with Oxford to leverage the synergies between our two companies to grow the platform, expand our
service offering and create new opportunities for our people.”