Dexus has ramped up efforts to secure control of the prized AMP Capital Wholesale Office Fund, making a “bigger is better” pitch to the fund’s investors and trustee board.
AMP Capital’s Quay Quarter Tower is one of the assets in its prized AMP Capital Wholesale Office Fund.It is understood Dexus briefed the fund’s investors on May 16 - just prior to the investors requestioning a meeting to put the management rights to a vote - and followed it up with a 40-page pitch jointly signed by AMP Capital head of real estate Kylie O’Connor and Dexus boss Darren Steinberg.
The pitch, sent to AWOF unitholders and trustee advisory board, implored both to keep the rights with AMP Capital and its suitor Dexus rather than hand them to rival Mirvac. It said the combined Dexus/AMP Capital would manage up to 87 office assets worth $34.9 billion. Dexus committed to retain AWOF’s team and key members of AMP Capital’s office management and share services unit “to preserve the wealth of fund and portfolio-specific knowledge”.
The new management structure would focus on “customer centricity, strong leadership and regional expertise”, while the combined managers’ 150-plus institutional client base would help provide ongoing liquidity for investors. As for scale, as one of the biggest office managers in the country, Dexus said it was able to “invest in bespoke systems” that led to better “leasing outcomes and customer experiences”. Dexus has about $25 billion in office assets, while rival AWOF suitor Mirvac has about $16 billion.It comes as AWOF’s advisory board tries to lock in a date for the vote. A notice of meeting, outlining the proposals and the timeframe, is expected as early as this week.