Hong Kong’s Link REIT Bids for $986M Lendlease Aussie Retail Portfolio

Hong Kong’s Link REIT has made an unsolicited offer for half-stakes in three Australia malls with a total value of over A$1.5 billion ($985.8 million), sources familiar with the discussions confirmed to Mingtiandi on Thursday.

The trio of shopping centres, located in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, are held by a A$2.8 billion Lendlease retail property fund that was recently subject to an unsuccessful bid by key investors to replace the vehicle’s management, the sources said.

After first entering Australia in 2019 with its acquisition of 100 Market Street in Sydney, Link REIT has picked up interests in nine commercial assets after venturing beyond the $29 billion trust’s Hong Kong retail roots. In February, Link hired Charter Hall veteran Julian Menegazzo as the group’s head of investment for Australia.

A representative from Link REIT, Asia’s biggest listed trust by market cap, declined to comment when contacted by Mingtiandi, as did a spokesperson from Sydney-based Lendlease.

Half-Stake Buffet

The target assets are 50 percent stakes in Macarthur Square in the New South Wales city of Campbelltown (valued at A$518 million), Sunshine Plaza in Queensland’s Maroochydore (A$575 million) and Lakeside Joondalup in Western Australia (A$452 million), according to sources.

Macarthur Square comprises 108,248 square metres (1.1 million square feet) of gross lettable area and is held in a 50:50 joint venture with a fund managed by ASX-listed GPT Group. GPT also directly owns a 50 percent stake in the 106,600 square metre Sunshine Plaza.

Lakeside Joondalup is held in a 50:50 JV with ASX-listed Vicinity Centres, which paid A$420 million for its half-interest in the 100,227 square metre mall in one of last year’s biggest retail transactions Down Under.

Another Hong Kong-based outfit keen on half-stakes in Aussie malls is the low-profile JY Group, which last year acquired a 50 percent interest in northern Sydney’s Warriewood Square from real estate fund manager IPST for A$135.5 million and a 50 percent slice of Perth’s Westfield Whitford City from Singapore sovereign fund GIC for A$195 million.

JY previously acquired a half-stake in the Carlingford Court mall in suburban Sydney in 2022 for A$120.5 million. The group’s portfolio also includes three shopping centres in the Sydney area, five Melbourne malls and a resort hotel in Cairns.

Spinoff Whispers

Mingtiandi reported in June that Link REIT was exploring the possibility of spinning off some of the HKEX-listed trust’s properties outside of mainland China and Hong Kong into a separate entity to be listed on the Singapore Exchange. 

The group has also been working to build its business as a manager of third-party capital. In late July, Link Real Estate Partners, the private funds arm of Link Asset Management, agreed to acquire an under-development western Sydney logistics project, with market sources confirming a deal value of A$121.5 million ($80.4 million). 

News of the Sydney shed deal emerged shortly after longtime Link chief executive George Hongchoy announced his intention to retire by mid-2026, with the group clarifying two months later that Hongchoy would stand down by the end of 2025.

As part of the transition, John Saunders, who joined Link in March 2024 as group chief investment officer, will be appointed to an executive director position on the company’s board from 1 January, where he will work with executive director and chief financial officer Kok-Siong Ng to take over the CEO duties on an interim basis.