Kiwi Property buys The Base shopping centre

Kiwi PropertyKiwi Property, developer of the high profile Sylvia Park Shopping Centre in Auckland, has purchased half of The Base shopping centre at Te Rapa, Hamilton.

The Base Limited, a subsidiary of Tainui Group Holdings Limited, sold 50 per cent of its flagship mall to Kiwi Property for $192.5 million. Kiwi Property has also hinted at the possibility of buying the other half of the mall for the price of $197.5 million in cash and shares.

Kiwi Property chief executive, Chris Gudgeon, said the acquisition will give them and their investors an ownership stake in the country’s largest, single-retail centre and will fit in with their plans of owning dominant regional shopping centres. Kiwi Property will manage the centre. There will be no change to the freehold title to the land which will remain in the ownership and protection of Waikato-Tainui.

The deal includes approximately 6.7 hectares of vacant lot suitable for future development. It also includes 120-year ground lease.

“The acquisition of the initial 50 per cent interest in The Base is unconditional and committed,” Gudgeon said. However, Kiwi Property has provided TBL with an offer to acquire its remaining 50 per cent interest. We understand that TGH will be asking the tribal parliament along with the executive committee of Waikato-Tainui to make a decision on this offer. The offer will remain open for acceptance until May 17, 2016.”

The Base is located within New Zealand’s “golden triangle” of economic and residential growth: Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga, which, according to the company’s news release, over the next two decades is expected to account for majority of the country’s population growth and accommodate about 50 per cent of the country’s population.

“As an investment proposition, The Base is an exciting opportunity with a positive retail sales outlook and strong underlying demographics,” Gudgeon said.

In the year to December 31, 2015, The Base generated total retail sales of $262.8 million, which is a 12 per cent increase from the previous year.

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