Herbert Smith Freehills has advised the OUSON Group on its acquisition of Towers 2, 3, and 4 of the World Trade Centre in Melbourne for $267.5m.
Expected to close during the first half of the year, the acquisition was made with the Abacus Property Group and joint venture partners KKR and Riverlee Group. The consortium realized a $99.5m capital increase in just over two years.
The three-tower complex on the north bank of the Yarra River has around 50,000 square metres of net lettable area. It was valued at $172m in October 2014, when Abacus and KKR bought the 70% stake of developer Riverlee. Towers 2 and 3 are presently anchored by Victoria Police, which will move once Cbus completes its new home on Spencer Street. The property is also home to Thales Australia Limited.
The OUSON Group, a property development company offering development, construction, project management, funds management and real estate services, said that it is looking for other large-scale assets and land development sites “in the near future.”
The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partner Jane Hodder and senior associate Dinh Ptok, supported by solicitors Hannah Stevens and Stephanie McSwiney. The firm’s Corporate team also assisted with establishing the trust vehicle for the acquisition.
“This significant acquisition follows the keen interest developers have shown in the area, as it becomes subject to a large pipeline of projects in the residential and commercial space which will transform and re-energise Docklands,” said Hodder.
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