AMP NZ Office Trust enters conditional contract to purchase ASB Bank CentreMay 23, 2003 AMP NZ Office Trust (ANZO) today advised that it has entered into a conditional contract to acquire the ASB Bank Centre in Auckland. ANZO executive manager Robert Lang emphasised that the potential purchase rested on a number of conditions being satisfied; however, continuous disclosure regulations require that the contract be announced at this preliminary stage. ANZO is a unit trust listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange which invests predominantly in prime CBD office properties in major New Zealand cities. It already owns seven of New Zealand’s premium office buildings with a total value of more than $555 million – Auckland’s PricewaterhouseCoopers Tower, ANZ Centre, NZI House and Quay Tower; and Wellington’s HP Tower, 125 The Terrace and No. 1 The Terrace. The ASB Bank Centre is a premium-quality landmark office tower at 135 Albert St, Auckland, with 30 office floors and four levels of basement carparking, which was completed in 1991. It is jointly owned by ASB Bank, which has a lease for 15 of the 30 office levels extending until 2013, and the AMP Property Portfolio, an unlisted wholesale fund with a diversified portfolio. Mr Lang commented: “ANZO’s investment mandate encompasses growing the portfolio by acquisition and the ASB Bank Centre appears to fit our criteria. We are pursuing this acquisition on the basis that it will be accretive to earnings and distributions, and we are currently undertaking the due diligence required to confirm this.” The agreed price is $112 million, which will be fully debt-funded if the purchase proceeds. ANZO’s conditions of contract include:
Mr Lang said the outcome of the due diligence will then be reviewed and, if satisfactory, approved by the board of AMP Henderson Global Investors (New Zealand) Limited (ANZO’s manager) and ANZO’s trustee. The date for ANZO to go unconditional is June 13, 2003 and the proposed settlement date is July 31, 2003. Mr Lang said the two AMP property entities were being advised by separate firms of solicitors and valuers while the transaction was under consideration. Media inquiries: |