Aldi sells two more distribution centres in $281.5m deal

Retailer Aldi has sold another two distribution centres to Charter Hall and joint venture partner Allianz Real Estate for $281.5 million.

The deal adds to the four Aldi distribution centres acquired by property fund manager Charter Hall and global institutional investor Allianz Real Estate, part of financial services group Allianz, for $648 million in a sale and lease back deal in June.

Charter Hall said the latest deal expanded the 50/50 joint venture between the Charter Hall Prime Industrial Fund and Allianz Real Estate, acting on behalf of several Allianz group companies.

Charter Hall managing director and group CEO David Harrison said the two assets were acquired off market.

“Accessing the ongoing growth and resilience of grocery retailing in Australia has been a consistent thematic driving the strength of our industrial and logistics portfolio, which now totals more than $11.5 billion,” Mr Harrison said.

“This additional Aldi-leased portfolio of assets cements our position as the largest owner of grocery anchored distribution centres in Australia, with a $3.5 billion portfolio leased to all four major supermarket anchors.”

The two Aldi distribution centres are located in industrial precincts in the Melbourne suburb of Derrimut and the Staplyton-Yatala distribution hub, located between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The Aldi distribution centre in the Staplyton-Yatala industrial hub in Queensland. Picture: Charter Hall

The centres were sold subject to initial seven-year lease back terms plus multiple seven-year options.

The leases are triple net with 3.0 per cent fixed annual increases providing the joint venture with a secure, growing income stream, the companies said.

Allianz Real Estate Asia Pacific CEO Rushabh Desai said the company now had an exposure of more than $US2.4 billion ($AU3.2 billion) to logistics in the region, across Australia, Japan, China and India.

“Investing in logistics is a high conviction global theme for us,” Mr Desai said.

CPIF, a $6 billion pure-play industrial and logistics fund, said both of its capital raisings this year were oversubscribed, demonstrating the strong interest from domestic and offshore institutional investors seeking exposure to the Australian logistics sector.