AUSTRALIA - Back in February, we reported the discount supermarket chain was set to enter a $700 million AUD sale and leaseback agreement for its logistics centers in Australia. Now, it looks like Aldi has officially entered into the sale—Charter Hall Group (CHC) and its joint venture partner Allianz Real Estate have acquired Aldi's $648 million (approximately $449.5 million USD) Australian logistics portfolio.

“Accessing the ongoing growth and resilience of grocery retailing in Australia has been a consistent thematic driving the growth of our Industrial and Logistics portfolio toward $10 billion and beyond, now representing 25 percent of our enlarged $40 billion platform,” said Charter Hall Managing Director and Group CEO David Harrison.

According to Business News Australia, the portfolio consists of four assets, including Sydney logistics facilities in Minchinbury and Prestons (the Outer West and Southwest suburbs of Sydney), whilst the Melbourne facility is located in the Dandenong industrial precinct and the Brisbane asset located in the Northern suburb of Brendale.

Located in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, the distribution centers were designed and built by Aldi and sold to Allianz Real Estate with seven-year lease back initial terms plus multiple seven-year options. The joint venture sees Charter Hall's $6 billion Prime Industrial Fund (CPIF) acquire the portfolio in a 50/50 split with Allianz Real Estate, as reported in the news source.

“This transaction is in line with our strategy of aligning our investments to secular megatrends in the Asia-Pacific region,” Allianz Real Estate Asia Pacific CEO Rushbah Desai said. “Demand for logistics in Australia is underpinned by growth in e-commerce, increasing international trade, and the resilience of non-discretionary retail spending.”

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