Ivanhoe, Blackstone Buy Stake in Australian Office Tower

Ivanhoé Cambridge announced this week that in partnership with Blackstone Property Partners Asia the company has acquired a 25% interest in Liberty Place, a 42-story office tower in the heart of Sydney's Midtown. According to a Bloomberg Business report, Canada’s Ivanhoe Cambridge has made its first direct investment in Australia, joining with Blackstone Group LP to buy a stake in a Sydney office complex for A$240 million ($182 million). Ivanhoé and Blackstone are buying their stake from LaSalle Investment Management on a yield of about 5.6%, according to the Australian Business Review. It is the first major office tower deal in Sydney to be struck this year without a development angle, the publication said.

"We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to invest in Australian real estate", explained Rita-Rose Gagné, Executive Vice President, Growth Markets, for Ivanhoé Cambridge. "Blackstone's strong knowledge of the Australian market and its established presence in Australia have been key to the success of this transaction. Ivanhoé Cambridge continues to explore the possibilities of increasing our investments in Australia and in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region in 2015."

Christopher Heady, Senior Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Asia at Blackstone said: "This is our first investment in Asia as part of Blackstone Property Partners' Core+ strategy. Liberty Place fits the Core+ strategy extremely well as a high quality, well-leased asset in a global gateway city. We are pleased to have partnered with Ivanhoe Cambridge on this transaction."

Completed in 2013, 161 Castlereagh Street is the Sydney headquarters of the ANZ Bank, and was 97% leased at the time of sale. Liberty Place was developed on the site behind the Sydney Hilton, spreading from Pitt Street to Castlereagh Street. It occupies 60,176 square meters of office space and 4425 square meters of retail area.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

GE Selling Real Estate, Dismantling GE Capital

Fairfield, CT-based General Electric (GE) announced this week that it is selling the bulk of its GE Capital banking business in an attempt to simplify the conglomerate and concentrate on the best-performing segments. Blackstone and Wells Fargo also announced that they had signed agreements to purchase most of the assets of GE Capital Real Estate in a transaction valued at approximately $23 billion. The transaction breaks down as follows:

• Wells Fargo has agreed to purchase performing first mortgage commercial real estate loans valued at $9.0 billion in the United States, UK and Canada.
• Blackstone's latest flagship global real estate fund, BREP VIII, has agreed to purchase the US equity assets for $3.3 billion. These assets are primarily office properties in Southern California, Seattle and Chicago.
• Blackstone's European real estate fund, BREP Europe IV, has agreed to purchase the European equity real estate assets, for €1.9 billion. These consist of office, logistics and retail assets, largely in the UK, France and Spain. The logistics assets will be integrated into Blackstone's European logistics platform, Logicor, and the retail assets into its European retail platform, Multi.
• BREDS, Blackstone's real estate debt fund, has agreed to purchase performing first mortgage loans in Mexico and Australia for $4.2 billion.
• BXMT, Blackstone's publicly traded commercial mortgage REIT, has agreed to purchase a $4.6 billion portfolio of first mortgage loans primarily in the US with Wells Fargo providing the financing.

Jon Gray, Global Head of Real Estate for Blackstone, said, "We are delighted to partner with GE on another major transaction and we thank them for their confidence in us. We also thank Wells Fargo for our longstanding relationship, and for their swift execution on this investment. This transaction clearly demonstrates the unique scale and reach of our real estate platform."

Mark Myers, Head of Commercial Real Estate for Wells Fargo, said, "This is an important transaction in the commercial real estate industry and Wells Fargo is pleased to be working with our colleagues at GE Capital and Blackstone. The portfolio of performing loans we've purchased is a strong addition to our commercial real estate platform in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, which are all active lending markets for us."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

MRP & Rockpoint Sell Buildings at Bethesda Crossing

MRP Realty and Rockpoint Group announced this week that the joint venture has sold two of the three buildings that make up Bethesda Crossing in Bethesda, Maryland for an undisclosed sum. J.P Morgan Asset Management purchased the two office towers in the office complex, formerly known as the Air Rights Center. MRP will retain ownership of the facility's office building at 4550 Montgomery Avenue and continue as the property manager at the Wisconsin Avenue building, known as the Wisconsin Towers.

"The sale of Bethesda Crossing is another step forward in our committed strategy of acquiring well- located, urban-infill assets and renovating, repositioning and rebranding them into premier office and residential properties," said MRP Managing Principal Bob Murphy in a press release. "It's a significant enhancement in the overall tenant experience for our occupants and further drives home our commitment to creating additional investment value for our investor partners."

MRP and Rockpoint bought the property in January 2013, then invested almost $30 million in renovations. "The investment we made in Bethesda Crossing allows us to take advantage of its irreplaceable location in the heart of Bethesda," Zach Wade, principal of MRP Realty, said in a press release. "Bethesda Crossing was already a strong office product, and we have added value to current and future tenants through this modernization process."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

NorthMarq Completes AmeriSphere Acquisition

NorthMarq Capital announced this week that it had completed the acquisition of AmeriSphere Multifamily Finance, a Fannie Mae DUS and FHA MAP lender from its founding partner Rodrigo Lopez and the investment firm McCarthy Capital (Fulcrum). NorthMarq previous held a 40% stake in Amerisphere; with the deal finalized, Amerisphere will now operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary, NorthMarq Capital Finance. Jay Donaldson has been appointed president of the NorthMarq Capital Finance group; Scott Suttle continues as executive vice president and national production director. Both will join NorthMarq Capital's Executive Leadership Team and report to Eduardo "Ed" Padilla, CEO-NorthMarq Capital and NorthMarq Capital Finance.

"NorthMarq's acquisition is the logical culmination of a very successful decade-long relationship. Because of NorthMarq's outstanding loan producers and excellent borrower clients, the AmeriSphere team will continue growing the best performing portfolio in our industry," said Amerisphere founding partner Rodrigo Lopez.

"This acquisition strengthens our multifamily platform and leverages our existing production platform throughout the U.S.," said Padilla. "Robust Fannie Mae and HUD offerings are a great complement to our Freddie Mac platform and create the best options for our borrower clients."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Omega Acquires Aviv to Form $11B REIT

Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc., the Maryland-based REIT, announced that it had completed it's acquisition of Aviv REIT, Inc. in a stock-for-stock merger, forming a combined company with a total market capitalization of approximately $11.1 billion. According to a company press release, the combined company will be the premier publicly traded REIT focused principally on skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), with a diversified portfolio of investments including over 900 properties located in 41 states and operated by 81 different operators. Pickett will continue in his role as CEO, while Aviv's former president and chief operating officer was appointed chief corporate development officer. Aviv's former chairman, as well as two former directors, received seats on the board, according to a Baltimore Sun article.

"We believe that the combination with Aviv and the expertise and proven track records of the combined management team firmly positions Omega to continue as the leading consolidator in the large, highly fragmented SNF industry," said Taylor Pickett, Omega Healthcare Investor's Chief Executive Officer.

Craig M. Bernfield, Aviv's former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "I am confident that our vision to substantially grow Aviv's platform of high quality properties and operators will be implemented through the combination of these two outstanding companies, and I believe that our combined industry knowledge, experience and relationships will be the key to our future success."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Hillwood Breaks Ground on 1.1M SF Industrial Build

Hillwood Investment Properties, a full service commercial real estate developer, investor and advisor created in 1998 under the Hillwood Development Company as a vehicle to develop and acquire industrial properties outside of AllianceTexas, broke ground this week on the Gateway South Building 3 in San Bernardino, CA. The 1.1-million-square-foot industrial building, scheduled for delivery by the end of the year, is an extension of the 14-million-square-foot AllianceCalifornia industrial park.

"We feel very good about getting a building of this size up. We have done several buildings of this size over the years, and have leased them," John Magness, SVP at Hillwood Investment Properties, told GlobeSt.com. "Usually about mid-way through construction we will find a tenant. This building has all of the amenities that a tenant would want, like extra truck parking, extra car parking, truck circulation around the building and a 36-foot clear, which is the trend in the larger industrial building. We just started grading last week, so we are about nine months away from end of the year delivery of the building, hopefully with a tenant, but if not, we will work on the lease-up even after construction."

Hillwood still has 60 acres left to develop at the park, but it is also busy purchasing adjacent land to continue expanding—as is the case with Gateway South Building 3. Magness thanks the city for their ability to complete these massive industrial developments. "It is hard to get buildings built in California, but this is a very pro-business city," he says. "The project is part of the success story of San Bernardino, and that is because, despite their bankruptcy, the city has continued to process buildings and get things done."

Hillwood secured a construction loan through PCCP for the development process. HFF associate directors Cullen Aderhold and Brian Torp, senior managing director Trey Morsbach and real estate analyst Carson Dennis secured the undisclosed funds on behalf of Hillwood.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Colony Combines Entities

Colony Financial, Inc. and Colony Capital, LLC have completed their combination -- the former previously being a subsidiary of the latter -- to merge and form Colony Capital, Inc., becoming an internally-managed real estate and investment management company with more than 300 employees in 14 offices around the globe. The transaction was approved by an overwhelming majority of its shareholders at the Special Meeting on March 31, 2015. The transaction included the formation of an umbrella partnership real estate investment trust (UPREIT) with a subsidiary operating partnership that holds all the assets and directly or indirectly conducts substantially all the business of Colony Capital.

"This combination allows Colony Capital to expand its unique global culture and brand by utilizing its strong balance sheet to create bespoke investment products and platforms in real assets and at opportunistic points in cycles and geographies," said Executive Chairman Thomas Barrack, Jr. in a statement.

"The transaction is seamless for Colony's employees," added Chief Executive Officer Richard Saltzman. "It is business as usual with minimal integration logistics as everyone already works together as a team, albeit previously across separate legal entities."

Morgan Stanley & Co. acted as financial advisor to the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Colony Capital in connection with the transaction. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as legal advisor to the Special Committee of the Board of Directors in connection with the transaction. Hogan Lovells acted as legal advisor to Colony Capital in connection with the transaction. Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as financial advisor to Colony Capital, LLC in connection with the transaction. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as legal advisor to Colony Capital, LLC in connection with the transaction.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.