GIC Sells Half-Stake in Perth Mall to Chinese Investor JY Group for $133M

Singapore sovereign fund GIC has completed the sale of its 50 percent interest in a Western Australia mall to Chinese investor JY Group for A$195 million ($132.8 million).

The half-stake in Westfield Whitford City marks JY’s first joint venture with Scentre Group, Australia’s biggest retail landlord, which continues to hold a 50 percent share of the mall in northern Perth, according to law firm Lander & Rogers, which advised JY on the buy.

GIC and Scentre had redeveloped the 1978-era Westfield Whitford City in 2017 at a cost of A$80 million, adding improved dining and entertainment options. Last year the partners made further upgrades to the mall, which spans 84,940 square metres (914,287 square feet) of gross lettable area and rings up more than A$500 million in annual sales.

“The acquisition marks a significant milestone for JY Group, bringing their total assets under management to A$2.5 billion for the first time,” Lander & Rogers said in a release.

Adventures in Oz Retail

Little is publicly known about JY, which invests in Australian commercial properties and two years ago acquired a half-stake in the Carlingford Court mall in suburban Sydney for A$120.5 million. The rest of its portfolio includes three shopping centres in the Sydney area, five Melbourne malls and a resort hotel in Cairns.

The Chinese firm co-invests alongside high-net-worth clients, according to the Australian Financial Review, which identified a figure named Kai Zhang as the group’s co-founder. JY had not responded to Mingtiandi’s request for comment by the time of publication.

The Whitford City deal, which values the mall at A$390 million, transacted at A$4,591 ($3,127) per square metre of lettable space and marked GIC’s latest retail exit Down Under.

Last year, the $801 billion fund sold back its stake in Sydney’s Chatswood Chase mall to Vicinity Centres for A$307 million, taking a 45 percent haircut on its 2017 investment in the property. In 2021, GIC offloaded half-stakes in a trio of Sydney retail assets for A$532.8 million in a deal with Hong Kong-listed Link REIT.

GIC and Scentre continue to jointly own the Westfield Parramatta mall in western Sydney. The partners also hold stakes in five New Zealand shopping centres.

Mid-Sized Assets Hot

Australia’s retail investment market saw 28 transactions totalling A$850 million during the second quarter of 2024, according to a CBRE update.

Sub-regional centres remained the most popular asset class for investors, the consultancy said, with the mid-sized malls transacting at A$1.3 billion in the year to date. Notable sub-regional deals in the second quarter included Sydney’s Ashfield Mall, which sold for A$169 million, and Perth’s Maddington Central, which changed hands for A$107 million.

“Sub-regional and neighbourhood centres have a high level of liquidity and solid demand fundamentals and as a result, we expect solid volumes of trade for the remainder of 2024,” CBRE said.