Todays paper not sure office space is a good fit but its cheap take the long term view this good be a good thing. interesting times ahead just wish I had more now this just gets better. Hope CER goes as hard as this once it breaks out and CNP debt is solved.
Cheers Hotlegs
Analyst tips Macquarie trusts to merge
Print Florence Chong | September 10, 2009 Article from: The Australian WILL Macquarie CountryWide (MCW) merge with its sister trust Macquarie Office (MOF) to form a single diversified trust?
This is a scenario raised by analyst Simon Wheatley, head of A-REITs at Goldman Sachs JBWere. He said a merger between two these trusts would be an option in the restructure of the trusts.
Mr Wheatley said at this time of the cycle in the last downturn, mergers and acquisitions followed. He expected this would be the case again, but believed the mergers was likely to happen between the smaller trusts.
He said MCW could internalise its management and potentially do a simultaneous merge with MOF.
"There are many ways these could play out and pricing would be a key ingredient," he wrote.
Mr Wheatley expected MCW, which had successfully negotiated major asset sales to reduce its debt, to undertake a restructuring this financial year. Internalisation of management is a current hot topic with regard to the various Macquarie-managed trusts.
Macquarie Airport Trust has shareholder approval to push ahead with its internalisation plan, while there is noise about Macquarie Infrastructure Group going down the same route.
Within days of receiving overwhelming support to internalisation its management, the smallest and the most successful of the Macquarie trusts, Macquarie
Leisure Trust, changed its name.
Now known as Ardent Leisure Trust, it dropped the Macquarie name and moved into its own premises in Milsons Point, North Sydney at the end of last month.
"We are now completely independent of the Macquarie Group," Ardent Leisure Trust chief executive Greg Shaw told The Australian yesterday.
He said the new name, suggested by its staff to reflect their "passion" for the company, was chosen and adopted from the beginning of this month.
MCW Price at posting:
64.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
