Freehills has acted for Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) on its $287 million purchase of Brisbane’s Santos Place—the largest single property sale in Australia this year.
Completion of the acquisition was effected on 13 August 2010 and is PNB’s first international property acquisition and its first acquisition in Australia.
‘This sale will give a significant boost to the Brisbane office market whilst at the same time introducing a major new international player to the Australian property market,’ Freehills partner Michael Back said.
PNB beat a number of competitors to purchase the 36 storey, 35,000 square metre building which opened in August 2009. The building is over 95% fully let and has several major tenants including Santos and Aurecon who both lease several floors in the building as well as a number of barrister’s chambers.
PNB was incorporated in 1978 as part of the government’s economic policy to promote share ownership in the corporate sector, and is now a $54 billion investment group.
Freehills advised PNB on all aspects of the transaction including due diligence, negotiations with the vendor and the vendor’s agent and all relevant government agencies including FIRB.
The Freehills team was led by partner Michael Back and senior associate Julie Jankowski.
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