MinterEllison advised Ping An Real Estate on the acquisition of a 50% interest in a joint venture that looks to develop one of the tallest office buildings in Sydney at Circular Quay.
The acquisition marks the first commercial property investment made by Ping An Real Estate – the primary real estate investment platform of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd , an SSE 50 and HSI 50 company – in Australia.
It is also the largest investment by Ping An Real Estate in Australia to date. It “highlights the depth of Chinese confidence in the Australian economy and real estate sector,” the firm said, while demonstrating “the great willingness of Chinese companies to work with both local and foreign partners on market leading transactions in Australia.”
MinterEllison’s team was led by partner Sophie Chen from the firm’s Corporate M&A practice, supported by partner Wissam Abwi (Corporate M&A) and Simon Cooper (Corporate M&A).
Other partners involved include David McElhone (Real Estate), Richard Crawford (Projects, Infrastructure & Construction), Leigh De Jong (Financial Institutions) with a full team of lawyers including Dimitri Kalis (Corporate M&A), Camilla Sinclair (Corporate M&A), Will Ma (Corporate M&A), Samantha Pan (Corporate M&A), Jonathan Chow (Real Estate), Shira Saks (Real Estate) and Benjamin Wu (Real Estate).
This deal to acquire a half-stake in the joint venture with Mitsubishi Estate and Lendlease aims to re-shape the Sydney skyline with the development of a landmark commercial office tower in one of the city's most prominent locations.
Established in 2010 in Shenzhen, Ping An Real Estate is the global real estate investment and asset management platform of Ping An with AUM over US$26 billion as of 30 September 2016.
“We thoroughly enjoyed working with Ping An Real Estate to execute this joint venture, and could not have hoped for a better result. Ping An Real Estate is a substantial institutional investor and asset manager with a growing presence in the Australian property market, and their decision to make another significant investment in Sydney real estate shows the depth of their confidence in the sector and local economy more broadly,” Chen said.
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