Canadians keep coming for Australian commercial property

The Canadian fund manager, Ivanhoé Cambridge has partnered with Blackstone Property Partners Asia to buy a 25% stake in Liberty Place, a 42-storey office and retail Sydney tower.

Liberty Place at 161 Castlereagh Street includes 60,176 square metres of office space and 4,425 square metres of retail. 

The $240 million property, which houses the headquarters of ANZ Bank, was sold by LaSalle Investment Management.

The GPT Group has a 50% share and ISPT holds 25%. 

The acquisition is the first direct investment in Australia's commercial property market by Ivanhoé Cambridge, which holds assets worth more than A$44 billion. 

"Ivanhoé Cambridge continues to explore the possibilities of increasing our investments in Australia and in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region in 2015," said Rita-Rose Gagné, executive vice president for Growth Markets for Ivanhoé Cambridge.

This week a major Queensland pastoral holding sold to Canadian pension fund interests.