MITSUI O.S.K. Lines has announced its involvement in a project that will develop and lease industrial real estate in Australia through an investment fund.
The Japanese shipping line will acquire interests in 11 logistics properties across the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth, marking the company’s first foray into the Australian real estate market.
The real estate will be acquired through investment in a fund established and managed by the Australian subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Properties, Hankyu Hanshin Properties Australia.
MOL says it will engage in development and leasing operations in cooperation with ESR Group, a major real estate player in the Asia-Pacific region, which has US$156 billion in assets under management globally.
MOL Group company Daibiru Corporation has already entered the office building development business in Australia, and MOL now aims to generate stable earnings in the field of industrial real estate, where it says demand is expected to grow sharply in response to the rising e-commerce volume.
This line says it believes this project will help the group gain additional expertise to further expand its business in the future.
The project encompasses a total of 11 logistics properties, including 43 buildings, consisting of both existing facilities and newly developed properties.
Four of the locations are in Sydney, while Melbourne and Brisbane have three each, and one in Perth.
“With advanced equipment such as air conditioning and automated refrigeration/freezing systems, etc. installed in many of them, the project partners anticipate stable rental demand,” MOL said.
The project is part of MOL’s ‘Blue Action 2035’ management plan which aims to diversify the company’s business portfolio by increasing the weight of non-shipping, stable revenue businesses that counterbalance the “volatile” shipping market.
