Austock Group is selling its property funds management business to listed real estate fund manager Folkestone.
Austock Property Funds Management has about $555 million in growth assets and manages four funds: Australian Education Trust, Australian Social Infrastructure Fund, Austock Childcare Fund and the wholesale unlisted CIB Fund.
As part of the move, all Austock Property staff will join Folkestone.
Neither company disclosed Austock Property's price.
The acquisition of the Austock property business is in line with Folkestone's plan to expand its funds management platform.
"We've got a number of unlisted syndicates that we've brought to market and we've just launched a new one at Sydney Olympic Park, which is a $30-million office complex that we're syndicating," Folkestone managing director Greg Paramor told InvestorDaily.
"That's the direction [we're heading in] and this [acquisition] gives us a great platform in the social infrastructure place that we want to be in.
"It's very much fitting into the areas we want to be in and the rest is business as usual."
However, Austock was keen to retain interest in the property funds sector through ongoing investment in Folkestone, chief executive Bill Bessemer said in an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday.
"This is a particularly good outcome for unitholders of the funds which Austock Property manages and for Austock Property management, providing both with greater opportunities and prospects than Austock could deliver on its own," Bessemer said.
