Dexus offloads North Sydney office block for $95m to meet redemptions

The Dexus Wholesale Australian Property Fund (DWAPF) has sold an older office block in North Sydney to a Singapore investor for A$95m (€57m) to help meet redemption requests.

Dexus which inherited the A$2.3bn open-ended fund when it bought the Australia funds management platform from the former AMP Capital, told investors of the fund last year that they would have to wait up to 12 months for redemption requests to be met.

The manager was implementing an asset sales programme to raise capital but the divestment was taking longer because of the difficult market conditions.

Sources said the asset was sold at a discount to its June 2023 valuation of A$120m.

The recently refurbished building at 124 Walker Street, North Sydney, which was constructed in 1974, was among a trio of smaller assets that Dexus divested for a total of around A$185m.

A Dexus spokesperson the divestment reduced the fund’s exposure to the office market, decreased the average age of the portfolio and increased the average occupancy of the portfolio.

The disposal had extended the average lease expiry profile of the fund and improved “the capital management strength of the fund”, he said. but he declined to reveal the identify of the buyer, citing commercial reasons.

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