Blackstone’s $3bn Takeover Bid for Investa Property Trust

ASX-listed property trust Investa has received an unsolicited $3.14 billion cash bid from US funds giant Blackstone.

The world’s largest owner of real estate offered $5.25 a share, a 13.2 per cent premium on the fund’s last closing price.

The Investa Office Fund (IOF) shares rose by 10.5 per cent to $5.12 on Monday following the bid.

Blackstone originally made a confidential proposal on April 5 to acquire the IOF for $5.05 per unit. The improved offer of $5.25 marks a 20 per cent lift from Blackstone’s original proposal.

The directors of Investa Listed Funds Management have recommended the takeover bid, saying that it represents an opportunity for IOF unitholders to “realise their investment in IOF for significant value and certainty”.

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The offer is worth $5.15 per unit once Investa’s second-half distributions are taken into account.

CLSA analysts pointed out that unlike the Cromwell bid, funding will not be an issue for Blackstone.

Cromwell Property Group abandoned a bid to acquire the Investa Office Fund in October 2017. Property group Dexus, Australia’s largest office owner, also made a failed attempt at bidding for the fund.

“This bid is also a positive read-through for other AREITs with large prime office exposures, such as Dexus, Mirvac, GPT and Charter Hall, as a successful transaction will likely further tighten office capitalisation rates,” CLSA said.

Blackstone has been conducting due diligence since April when its first offer was made and has been granted a further four-week period.

Earlier this month, the US funds giant acquired an Auckland office portfolio from Goodman Group and its Singaporean co-investor GIC.