Westpac Office Trust
(ASX:WOT) has recommended unitholders vote in favour of a takeover offer from property group Mirvac Group Ltd
(ASX:MGR).
Under the offer, unitholders of Westpac Office Trust will receive either 0.597 Mirvac stapled securities for every one Westpac Office Trust unit held or 0.597 Mirvac instalment receipts for every one Westpac Office Trust instalment receipt held, or 86 cents per unit of the Trust up to an aggregate cash component of $200 million.
The offer values Westpac Office Trust at around $413 million.
Mirvac Group says it has entered into a scheme implementation with Westpac Funds Management, the responsible entity of Westpac Office Trust.
Mirvac says it believes that the combination of Westpac Office Trust and Mirvac’s portfolio will create a stronger and more diversified property investment portfolio, benefiting both existing and new Mirvac securityholders.
The proposed transaction is expected to deliver 3% earnings per share accretive to Mirvac Property Trust in the financial year ending 2011 and expands Mirvac’s ownership of Australian investment grade assets by an additional $1.1 billion.
Westpac Funds Management chairman Alan Cameron says Mirvac’s offer is attractive and provides investors an opportunity to participate in Mirvac’s future, including retaining an interest in Westpac Office Trust’s high quality assets, which will be material contributors to the performance of Mirvac Property Trust.
For fiscal 2009, Westpac Office Trust posted a loss of $159.49 million.
