Property investor and fund manager Goodman Group Ltd
(ASX:GMG) has set up a $400 million fund with the Canada Pension Plan Investment board.
The fund, called the Goodman Australia Development Fund, will have an initial equity investment of $250 million, with a target gross asset value of about $400 million.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will hold a majority 80% stake in the fund.
Goodman Group CEO Greg Goodman says the fund will focus on acquiring a range of high quality development opportunities in Australia and secures a funding platform for the company’s Australian development business over the next two years.
Mr Goodman says the fund is the first of a number of initiatives flagged in the company’s half year results for 2010 and is consistent with its strategy of matching new third party capital with the group’s $10 billion development pipeline.
The fund will be seeded with the acquisition of Goodman’s Kmart development in Melbourne for $66.3 million.
The new fund expands the relationship between the two companies, which set up a separate fund in China in August last year.
Goodman Group booked a loss of $1.12 billion for fiscal 2009.
