By Gillian Tan
SYDNEY--The Blackstone Group (BX) is set to acquire seven
Australian office buildings from the real estate arm of General
Electric Co. (GE) for around 300 million Australian dollars (US$271
million), a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The sale of GE Capital Real Estate's assets--located in
Australia's largest cities like Sydney and Melbourne--could be
agreed later Wednesday, the person said.
The transaction comes two months after GE divested seven office
buildings to Mirvac Group Ltd (MGR.AU) for A$584 million, following
an ongoing review of assets non-core to its lending business. GE's
Australian insurance unit is also on the block, and has attracted
first-round bids from parties including Hong Kong-listed AIA Group
Ltd. (1299.HK), The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this
month.
It marks Blackstone's second Australian property investment in
recent weeks, with the firm agreeing to buy an Australian mall from
Lend Lease Group (LLC.AU) for A$360 million earlier this month.
Both transactions bolster the New York-listed firm's Australian
property portfolio, which includes the Top Ryde City mall in
Sydney, which it purchased from receivers in October for A$341
million and the 2011 acquisition of real-estate investment manager
Valad Property Group for around A$800 million.
-Write to Gillian Tan at gillian.tan@wsj.com
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