The management company of the Kiwi Income Property Trust and Kiwi Development Trust are the latest to be hit by the global trend of rationalisation.
Australian property behemoth Lend Lease is set to take a 50 per cent stake in the management company of the two trusts, and it has an option to acquire total control of the company within three years.
The deal, which still requires due diligence to be completed and the necessary regulatory approvals, is for shares in the managers of the trusts, not units in the trusts themselves.
Lend Lease is a diversified property developer and financial services group. It has funds under management to more than A$45 billion and is the world's biggest property investment manager with a portfolio of assets totalling more than 20 million m2 on five continents.
Kiwi Property Group currently manages around $550 million in office and retail property assets.
"This is due to grow to around $800 million on completion of the landmark Royal SunAlliance Centre development in Auckland in 2000," Kiwi Income said in a statement.
Joint managing directors Ross Green and Richard Didsbury said that with the growing trend toward global property investment the group had decided to seek out a global partner to secure maximum strength and choice for investors, as well as the ability to attract further international investment to New Zealand.
Lend Lease is not the first Australian property investor to target the New Zealand market. Bankers Trust in 1996 made a raid on St Lukes Group and secured a 50.4 per cent controlling stake in listed shopping centre owner.
Recently Lend Lease (MLC's parent company) and National Mutual agreed to partially merge their life insurance and funds management operations.
The management company of the Kiwi Income Property Trust and Kiwi Development Trust are the latest to be hit by the global trend of rationalisation.