Charter Hall has partnered with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC to acquire a 49% stake in Ampol.
Under the $682 million deal, the dual-partnership will acquire the near-half stake in the Ampol Property Trust, which owns 203 freehold convenience sites nationally.
The deal carries initial lease terms of between 11 and 22 years, a 19.2 year weighted average lease expiry (WALE) and 10 year initial option terms. The CPI annual rent reviews will be capped at a minimum of 2% and maximum 5% increases per annum.
Ampol has said the trust will receive approximately $77 million in rental repayments during the first year.
Charter Hall will own 5% of the partnership/2.45% interest in the Ampol portfolio and Managing Director Group CEO David Harrison said the deal followed a lengthy negotiation process.
“This off market transaction follows regular dialogue with the Ampol team over the past two years and reinforces our confidence in the convenience retail sector,” Mr Harrison said. “The extension of our 15-year relationship with GIC further grows the breadth of this multi- sector relationship and reflects our strong market position and continued conviction for Long WALE assets with strong underlying investment fundamentals.”
Ampol Managing Director/CEO Matt Halliday said the acquisition followed the company’s network retail review last year and allowed Ampol to unlock the value of its property assets, while enabling it to retain strategic and operational control of its core convenience network. “Today’s announcement was made possible by the significant amount of work undertaken over the past year and represents the successful execution of the strategy communicated to the market in late 2019. The transaction represents compelling value in volatile market conditions,” Mr Halliday said.
Ampol has said it will continue to look for opportunities to unlock further freehold sites, when market conditions improve. The transaction is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.