Dexus ready to take on mouthy rival HMC Capital for Collimate...

Dexus ready to take on mouthy rival HMC Capital for Collimate (copyright link)
Dexus ready to take on mouthy rival HMC Capital for Collimate (copyright link)

look like deadline for the Bid is end of April

It’s insane April in the listed real estate sector.

Nearly 18 months after Ares put AMP Ltd in play, and 12 months after AMP Ltd announced its intention to demerge its investment arm AMP Capital, real estate players are all of a sudden scrambling over each other to try to blow up the demerger.

Quay Quarter Tower, Circular Quay, is one of the prized assets in the AMP Capital/Collimate Capital portfolio.

It’s understood there are at least four Australian real estate bigwigs in the Collimate Capital (the new name for AMP Capital) data room.

Sources said there was no bid date; instead, it’s a race. AMP, advised by Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, wants to have its demerger documents ready at the end of the month.

At that time, it needs to be able to tell shareholders whether the demerger is happening or not. So, those lining up to try to snatch Collimate - and disrupt the demerger - have been told to put their best foot forward well ahead of April’s end.

David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital is in there with arguably the most aggressive pitch.

Di Pilla, having built his Home Consortium network from a bunch of former Masters sites less than a decade, wants his group to be a leading alternative asset manager. In its short existence, HomeCo has outbid and outmanoeuvred the rest of the sector, arguably leading the way in bulking up and getting capital market support to do it.

Now it’s willing to go beyond real estate and into things like infrastructure, which is where Collimate fits in. Morgan Stanley is in HMC’s corner.

But its rivals are not going to let HMC win Collimate without a fight.

Dexus is said to be mounting a strong fight, pitching its 30-year track record managing third party capital funds and its relationships with most of the big investors on Collimate’s platform.

Dexus also has form pinching Collimate assets - it merged its Dexus Wholesale Property Fund with AMP Capital Diversified Property Fund last year. As well as its 12-strong internal M&A team, it’s understood to have a handful of advisers, including Moelis.

There’s also Mirvac, trying to take the prized $7 billion AMP Capital Wholesale Office Fund, or at least parts of it. Mirvac also claims to have strong relationships with that fund’s investors.

Then there’s Scentre Group lurking in the background, and Charter Hall which, despite the denials, is the country’s biggest property manager and doesn’t normally shy away from a takeover tussle.

From all reports, there’s a frantic two to three weeks. And only then will AMP be able to tell shareholders whether it will push ahead with the demerger.