Colliers International has been appointed to sell Kaufland Australia’s property portfolio.
The German supermarket giant announced it was exiting the Australian market last month, after investing more than $500million and purchasing nine sites around the country.
At the time of the decision, Kaufland employed 200 staff in Australia and had poached a number of high-profile retail executives to head up its operations, including former Myer boss Richard Umbers. Many had spent six months in Germany on a training course.
The portfolio, across Queensland to South Australia and Victoria, could potentially fetch as much as $250 million.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity to secure a national pipeline of prime development sites, all of which are strategically located in growth areas that offer substantial upside,” John Marasco, Colliers International’s managing director of capital markets, told the Australian Financial Review.
“Rarely do we see such a significant value-add opportunity come to market in Australia.”
Four sites are in Melbourne, along with two in Brisbane, one at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast and two in Adelaide.
They are available for purchase in one line or can be broken up and sold individually.
The 115,000-square-metre distribution centre Kaufland has been building at the Merrifield Business Park in Melbourne has not been included in the nine-asset divestment portfolio.
A spokesperson speculated last month that “a site like that would probably continue to completion and be sold or other parties might come along and take it on.”
