The land lease operator, which was formed in 2018 when GIC and Tasman Capital Partners purchased Western Australia-based National Lifestyle Villages from Navis Capital and Blackstone, has been sold.
Property developer Mirvac, which publicly signalled its intensions to be a significant land lease operator at its Living Sectors Investor Day, and Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) have paid a total of $1.01 billion, for a 47.5% ownership each, with (pictured) Serenitas CEO Rob Nichols’ Tasman Capital Partners keeping 5%.
Serenitas has a portfolio of 27 land lease communities with over 6,200 sites, including over 4,200 occupied and around 2,000 sites to be developed, 98% of which are development approved.
“As part of the transaction, the 100+ Serenitas team, led by Serenitas CEO, Rob Nichols, will continue to manage the 27 communities and provide sector leading expertise.” Mirvac’s Group CEO and Managing Director, Campbell Hanan, said:
“This acquisition expands our residential offering, propelling Mirvac to become one of the largest owners in the attractive land lease community sector.”
Mirvac will make a $300 million initial investment in Serenitas with $240 million funded on settlement and $60 million deferred for 12 months. Settlement is targeted for 3Q24.
Pacific Equity Partners has AUD $8 billion in assets under management and is regarded as the first and most successful private equity firm in Australia.
They stated last year was their best performing yet, selling five companies which delivered “an average 3.8x gross multiple of money invested (MoM) and an average 62% gross IRR”.
Can they achieve the same in land lease, and over how many years?
Will Adrian Puljich’s GemLife be next?
The SOURCE: PEP buying into land lease will give greater encouragement to institutional funds like superannuation to do the same.
