Asian real estate giant ESR is one of the final parties in talks...

Asian real estate giant ESR is one of the final parties in talks to acquire AMP Ltd’s demerger candidate Collimate Capital (formerly AMP Capital).

ESR, which has stormed into Australia’s property sector with a raft of big acquisitions in the past five years, is understood to be firmly in Collimate Capital’s data room and seeking to shore up its earlier indications of value.

Sources told Street Talk that ESR had gained exclusivity on the asset, but it is understood that was premature.

For ESR, and Collimate Capital, the clock is ticking. AMP has the business slated for demerger by June 30. AMP’s team, advised by Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, are said to be on track to hit their deadline.

ESR is the third largest real estate asset manager globally with more than $US140 billion in gross assets under management, and has been a keen buyer of Australian commercial property.

Collimate Capital’s biggest exposure is real estate. It had $23 billion in property assets under management as of December 31, and a team of about 500 real estate professionals to be a top-10 property investor in the region. It made $184 million in real estate fees in the half year.

The other half of Collimate capital is infrastructure equity, where AMP has nearly $20 billion invested in power lines, transport assets and the like.

Analysts reckon the fund manager is worth about $2 billion.

It remains to be seen whether ESR can firm up its offer, but sources said it was the most advanced of a handful of potential suitors that had popped up in the past two months.

Should it firm up the bid, the next challenge would be keeping Collimate’s big institutional clients on board.