Canadian pension group bids for Australian real estate firm

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is one among a leading group offering to buy out industrial real estate firm, ING Industrial Fund .

The Australian firm holds 57 premium industrial properties in both Australia and Europe. CPPIB along with All Pensions Group and the China Investment Corporation make up the Goodman Trust Australia that is seeking full ownership of ING Industrial Fund for 55 cents a share or about a $2.63 billion cash offer.

If the sale pushes through, CPPIB's share in GTA would amount to 42.5 percent.

"This transaction is an opportunity for CPPIB to invest in a portfolio of high-quality industrial properties and represents our largest real estate investment in Australia. As a long-term and disciplined investor, we believe that these assets would be a good fit with our existing portfolio and are well-aligned with our real estate investment strategy," said Graeme Eadie ,senior vice-president of real estate investments at the CPPIB.

The sale is still pending approval from regulatory authorities and unit holders. The CPPIB group diversifies its investment portfolio to pay for benefits of Canadian contributors and beneficiaries via public equities, private equities, real estate, inflation-linked bonds, infrastructure and fixed income instruments.

Currently, the group is managing funds worth $138.6 billion comprising of $4.2 billion worth of funds invested in private equity funds, infrastructure and real estate assets in the Asian region.