LOGISTICS company LOGOS and its partners have signed a binding agreement to buy the warehousing and property components of the Moorebank Logistics Park for $1.67 billion from ASX-listed Qube.
In the deal, LOGOS joined with its existing partners – Ivanhoé Cambridge, AustralianSuper, and TCorp (NSW Treasury Corporation) – as well as a new partner, AXA IM Altis. LOGOS was appointed as the investment and development manager for MLP.
Moorebank Logistics Park includes approximately 243 hectares of land, which the buyers said would be developed into high-quality industrial property and infrastructure. They said there is potential for up to 850,000 square metres of warehouse opportunities directly adjacent to Australia’s largest rail intermodal facilities with direct linkage to Port Botany.
Qube said the transaction positions it to focus on growing its core logistics business while retaining exposure to long-term growth in container volumes at MLP through terminal and logistics activities.
The LOGOS Consortium said: “This acquisition positions the LOGOS Consortium at the heart of a logistics revolution that will capture powerful economic benefits as the MLP’s intermodal terminals ramp up, increasing the efficient transfer of goods from Port Botany to customers around Australia.
“Our collective vision for MLP represents a fundamental shift in east coast logistics, as a fully automated port-to-site rail link. The high levels of automation across the intermodals and warehousing will drive significant long-term cost advantages and improve supply chain predictability which will offer important labour efficiency and stock availability. The scale of a logistics site with this range of benefits, within a 30-minute drive of a major global CBD, has not been seen in Australia before.”
LOGOS head of Australia and New Zealand Darren Searle said connectivity, efficiency and intermodal capability are critical components of a pre-eminent logistics site.
“No site is better equipped to facilitate market-leading levels of scale and automation than the Moorebank precinct,” Mr Searle said.
“The demand from global and domestic customers for high-quality, larger, automated distribution warehouses and fulfilment centres has continued to grow, and the LOGOS Consortium is delighted to be advancing NSW’s pre-eminent position in the national logistics network through the acquisition of MLP.”
Qube managing director Paul Digney said: “We are delighted to announce Qube’s entry into a binding sale agreement with LOGOS, who is an ideal partner for the Moorebank project as they recognise the high quality and significant long-term strategic value of MLP.
“We are looking forward to partnering with the LOGOS Consortium to realise MLP as Australia’s leading logistics site and to build on the value of the infrastructure that Qube already built at the precinct.”
Mr Digney said the transaction would allow Qube to realise a strong value for the property asset and it de-risks delivering the leasing and development of future warehouses and reduces Qube’s ongoing capex requirements.
“Further, the transaction positions Qube strongly to focus on growing its core logistics business, while retaining exposure to long-term growth in container volumes at MLP through terminal and logistics activities,” Mr Digney said.
“The LOGOS Consortium’s arrival at Moorebank will also underpin the Commonwealth’s investment in this nation building project. We consider this very much a win-win for Qube, LOGOS and our partners, the Commonwealth owned Moorebank Intermodal Company.”
Mr Searle said the supply-chain benefits offered by the increased access to freight by rail over road will benefit the tenants of MLP enormously, and the connectivity between Port Botany, the distribution centre at Moorebank and the warehouses on site will offer unparalleled operational savings for importers and exporters.
“The site benefits extend far beyond just the tenants,” Mr Searle said.
“By 2030, MLP is aiming to reduce Sydney and interstate truck travel by 243,000 kilometres per day, and lower carbon emissions by the equivalent of removing 11,000 vehicles from the road for a full year. We are proud to have leading sustainable practices and outcomes at the centre of our investment process.”
The acquisition of the MLP site increases LOGOS’s Australian and New Zealand assets under management to about $11.5 billion.
The LOGOS Consortium said it plans to deploy “the largest array of rooftop solar panels on a single site in Australia” to power the on-site automation.
The consortium said “extensive” green buffers and “biodiversity offsets” and elements of sight design and layout would reduce heat emissions from the site by approximately 4 degrees Celsius.
