Ivanhoé Cambridge, a leading international investor, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Stockland, one of the largest diversified property groups in Australia, to acquire a 49% interest in the M_Park Trust (TMPT).

Ivanhoé Cambridge will initially invest on a fund-through basis in TMPT, which is focused on the delivery of the [62,500sqm] M_Park Stage One in Macquarie Park, the third largest office market in Greater Sydney and a major innovation hub. This stage is currently under construction, with practical completion expected in FY24. It comprises three commercial buildings with combined NLA of [37,146 sqm] along with a 25,487sqm data centre.

This initial stage is currently [62%] pre-leased to tenants including Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, WiSE Medical and a multinational data centre operator.

Ivanhoé Cambridge will have the opportunity through its stake in TMPT to invest alongside Stockland in future stages of the project, being an adjacent four-hectare site, that has the potential to accommodate a further 95k sqm of NLA across six additional buildings5.

Ivanhoé Cambridge Co-Head of Asia Pacific, George Agethen said: “M_Park provides our portfolio with meaningful exposure and diversification to both knowledge-based workplaces and data centres and illustrates the continuation of our commitment to investing in Australia. Backed by high-credit tenants, the investment offers a resilient income profile with promising growth potential.”

CEO and Managing Director of Stockland, Tarun Gupta, said “The formation of the partnership at M_Park delivers on our strategy to expand our third-party capital platform and accelerate the delivery of our $9.1bn Commercial Property development pipeline. We are pleased to welcome Ivanhoé Cambridge to our platform and look forward to working with them to create one of Australia’s leading life sciences and technology precincts.”

TMPT demonstrates exceptional ESG performance with a clear pathway to carbon neutrality. Upon completion, three of the four buildings will be fully powered by renewables, and will target to achieve 5-Star NABERS Energy Ratings, 4-Star NABERS Water Ratings and 5 to 6 Star Green Star Ratings.

To encourage the achievement of sustainability goals, Ivanhoé Cambridge has introduced a sustainability-linked promote (“green promote”) that is tied to ESG targets to ensure alignment of interest over sustainability KPIs, incentivizing outperformance against base case sustainability goals.

“To achieve this monumental transition to a low-carbon economy we need to align the economic interests of all players in the value chain. As such, we look forward to the new strategic partnership with Stockland and we salute its market-leading ESG credentials and commitments”, adds George Agethen.

The transaction is expected to settle in in mid-2022. Completion of the transaction remains subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board.