Culum Manson and Kylie Mooney of Meredith Connell at 136 Fanshawe St. Photo / Alex Burton
Culum Manson and Kylie Mooney of Meredith Connell at 136 Fanshawe St. Photo / Alex Burton
A multi-billion-dollar Asian investment business has bought three big western precinct Auckland office blocks from interests associated with New Zealand's largest privately-owned developers for around $700 million.
PAG Group, formerly known as Pacific Alliance Group, bought the new office buildings from Mansons TCLM entities.
Plans for 136 Fanshawe St by Mansons TCLM. Photo / supplied
The buildings are:
• the AAInsurance House, 46 Sale St; • the under-construction 155 Fanshawe St where KiwiBank, Southern Cross and Genesis has leased space; • The under-construction 136 Fanshawe St where 2degrees and Meredith Connell are moving.
PAG said that since 2010, it had a big presence here and in Australia in credit, real estate and private equity. It established Sydney and Melbourne offices and owns The Cheesecake Shop and Craveable Brands which operates Red Rooster, Oporto and Chicken Treat.
The Overseas Investment Office cleared PAG to buy 136-142 Fanshawe St from New Zealand entities Culum Manson Trust, ECM Trust, Luke Manson Trust and Mac Manson Trust for a sum understood to be around $330m late last year.
AA Insurance House at 46 Sale St. Photo / Mansons TCLM
The price paid was suppressed but one of the reasons OIO consent is needed is if assets sold are for more than $100m.
Culum Manson announced last March he had sold 155 Fanshawe St to an overseas fund for $247m. That fund is also understood to be PAG although Manson said a confidentiality agreement applied to that. Records show Mansons Wynyard still owns that property.
AA Insurance House is tenanted by AA Insurance as well as others. The insurer moved in more than two years ago but PAG is also understood to have bought that block from Mansons but Culum Manson could not confirm.
The building was designed by local architectural design studio Formis with two levels of car parking and seven levels of offices. Records show the owner is Hera Trust Pte.
How did the $330m paid for 136 Fanshawe St compare to the $247m for 155 Fanshawe St? The extra $83m is partly due to that block's proximity to the CBD. But the new offices at 136 Fanshawe St at 20,000sq m are larger than the 15,000sq m 155 Fanshawe St.
Manson said he could not name the buyers but that the family-owned business reinvested all funds received from building sales into new activity. Mansons has more than $1b of new development work planned or under way, he said.
Soon, the business will move into new premises on St Georges Bay Rd in Parnell, he said.
