Melbourne, 5 June 2020: A Clayton Utz team has acted on the largest property deal in Australia this year to date, the sale of a 50% interest in the iconic Rialto building in Melbourne, for over $643 million. The transaction completed on 3 June.
Clayton Utz represented the vendor, which sold its interest to Dexus Wholesale Management Limited. Dexus joins Grollo Australia Pty Ltd as the Rialto's joint owner.
Clayton Utz partner Andrew Norman led the firm's team, which included special counsel Jerome Martin, senior associates Angus Roy and Nick Chan and lawyer Henry Matthys.
Andrew said the completion of the Rialto sale was a great fillip for the Australian property sector, and had shifted the thinking around what deals were possible during the COVID period.
"The property sector has been hit hard by COVID. There are not many Rialtos, but as restrictions start to loosen, a transaction like this can put some bounce right back into the whole sector," said Andrew.
Andrew said despite the intervention of COVID-19, the transaction had run smoothly, with exchange taking place only six weeks from the date of signing of the Heads of Agreement (HOA) for the sale in late February.
"It is a credit to the parties and deal teams involved that we were able to achieve a successful completion within the timeframe we did. Our client is very pleased with the outcome, and we're pleased to have been a part of such a landmark deal."
Andrew has an established reputation as one of Australia's top legal advisers for premium commercial property deals, with a track record of leading Clayton Utz teams in advising both purchasers and vendors on transactions, including recently:
- acting for AMPC on the purchase of three separate 25% interests for a total of around $1.5b in Brookfield's Wynyard Place development (scheduled to complete in 2021);
- the sale of a 50% interest in an $800m Melbourne office portfolio (535 Bourke Street and 459 and 440 Collins Street) to the Juilliard Group (signed 2019);
- Myer's anchor HQ tenancy at 1000 La Trobe Street, Docklands (signed early 2020);
- Blackstone's acquisition of three portfolios of logistics assets from the Goodman Group ($1.7b).
The reputation of the Tier 1 Clayton Utz Real Estate team more broadly continues to see the firm engaged on both the government and private client side on many of the largest and highest profile deals taking place around the country, including advising:
- the Victorian Government on the North East Link Project ($16b) and the Level Crossings Removal Project (over $13b);
- Invesco on its fund through deal for a 50% interest in the $800m Chevron Tower in Perth (April 2020);
- Dahua on its greenfield community development in Sydney’s South-Western Growth Region ($3.5b); and
- Infrastructure NSW on the $15b Barangaroo Project, Australia's most significant urban renewal project.