Norton Rose Fulbright advises retail investor and manager Haben on Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre acquisition

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Haben Property Fund and the JY Group, on the acquisition of all of the units in the trust that owns the major regional Melbourne shopping complex, Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre, from Blackstone.

The acquisition bolsters Haben’s more than $1.8 billion in retail property investments in Australia, with a focus on resilient income from convenience-based retailers and unlocking capital value from its investments. Forest Hill Chase has six major retailers as anchor tenants and more than 130 other specialty stores, as well as significant surrounding land parcels.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team advised on the corporate, real estate and tax aspects of the transaction, including conducting legal due diligence, reviewing and negotiating the unit sale agreement and other key transaction documents with the seller, and assisting with the completion.

Norton Rose Fulbright corporate M&A partner Ben Smits and real estate partner Justin Lucas commented:

“We are pleased to have worked closely with Haben to further its investment in high quality Australian retail property. This acquisition allows Haben to expand its Melbourne portfolio by adding a popular retail asset with significant future development potential.”

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Ben Smits and Justin Lucas and supported by Haben relationship partner Michael French as well as partner Greg Reinhardt; special counsel Sally-Ann Rowland; and senior associate Igor Kungurov.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised on a range of other recent deals including:

• advising Coles Group Limited on its agreement to purchase two automated milk processing facilities from Saputo Dairy Australia;
• advising Sheffield Resources Limited on its execution of an investment agreement with the current shareholders of Rio Grande Mineração S/A (RGM), which holds the South Atlantic Mineral Sands Project in Brazil;
• advising Petspiration Group on sale of 55 per cent equity to Woolworths Group;
• advising Zurich and Cover-More Insurance on the sale of employee assistance provider Benestar.
• advising Australian Ethical on its superannuation fund merger with Christian Super;
• advising global consulting, construction, engineering and operating company Egis on its acquisition of sustainable engineering and consulting services business Calibre Professional Services;
• advising Colliers, a leading international diversified professional services and investment management company, on its acquisition of a controlling interest in engineering and urban design group PEAKURBAN;
• advising global high-tech engineering group Sandvik on its agreement to acquire Australian advanced optimisation software and services company, Polymathian Industrial Mathematics;
• advising Sandvik on its proposed acquisition of Deswik Group, a Brisbane-based software business that focuses on mining industry products;
• acting as legal advisors for Gaw Capital Partners on its majority investment in Maoneng Group’s portfolio of BESS and solar development projects across Australia;
• advising the leading green fuel developer InterContinental Energy on bp’s entry into the Asian Renewable Energy Hub (also known as the AREH project);
• advising Federation Asset Management on its investment in the Riverina and Darlington Point Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in New South Wales; and
• advising ENEOS on its Joint Venture with TotalEnergies to develop onsite B2B solar distributed generation across Asia.