Lend Lease Group agreed to sell a mall it runs in Melbourne to Blackstone Group LP (BX), the world’s biggest manager of alternative assets.
Blackstone paid A$360 million ($332 million) for Greensborough Plaza, according to a person familiar with the transaction, who asked not to be identified as the price hasn’t been disclosed. Vivienne Bower, a spokeswoman at Sydney-based Lend Lease, confirmed the sale by the developer’s unlisted Australian Prime Property Fund Retail of the mall 23 kilometers (14 miles) northeast of Melbourne’s center.
Blackstone, which is seeking $4 billion for its first Asian property fund, had $1.5 billion as of June 7, according to a letter sent to investors on June 12. The New York-based firm is focusing on China, India, Australia and Japan, a person with knowledge of the plans said in December, as the Asia-Pacific region’s economic growth attracts private-equity investors.
Blackstone’s New York-based spokesman Peter Rose didn’t respond to phone calls and an e-mail seeking comment.
Blackstone in November bought Top Ryde City shopping center in Sydney for A$341 million from receivers. The firm, in April 2011, bought Sydney-based Valad Property Group, which was struggling to pay off debt, for about A$700 million.
The shares of Lend Lease, Australia’s biggest developer, rose as much as 4.2 percent and were 2.7 percent higher at A$8.37 as of 11:40 a.m. in Sydney. Blackstone shares slipped 0.3 percent to $20.99 at the close of trading in New York.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nichola Saminather in Sydney at nsaminather1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net
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