Dexus is acquiring an initial 28.5% stake in Heathley Asset Management, a company responsible for managing around AUD600m (鈧�369m) worth of private hospitals and medical centres in Australia.
The Australian-listed property group said it will initially buy the stake in Heathley and will have an option to acquire a further 21.5% interest in the future.
Dexus will also take up a cornerstone stake of 10%, with a board seat, in the proposed initial public offering of the Heathley Healthcare REIT.
For Dexus it will be a modest investment of AUD37.3m, but a source said it will give it a strategic interest in the listed Heathley vehicle.
Dexus - which launched its Dexus Healthcare Wholesale Property Trust last year - will use the partnership with Heathley to make deeper inroads into the Australian healthcare sector.
It is currently undertaking a second capital raise to fund pipeline projects which, if successfully acquired, would take HWPF鈥檚 funds under management to around AUD830m on completion.
Dexus chief executive officer, Darren Steinberg said: 鈥淥ur investment in Heathley complements our existing healthcare fund strategy.鈥�
鈥淚t is a logical extension to our funds management platform, providing access to strong customer relationships in the sector,鈥� he said.
Heathley chief executive officer, Andrew Hemming, said the partnership with Dexus will support his company in executing its growing pipeline of projects.
