MELBOURNE: MA Financial Group Limited said Thursday it has agreed to acquire a 50% interest in The Glen Shopping Centre for 327.5 million Australian dollars ($217 million) and launched a new fund targeting more than AU$500 million in large-format retail assets.

The Sydney-based alternative asset manager said the acquisition, made through a managed fund, adds to its recent purchases of Taigum Square Shopping Centre in Brisbane and the ECQ XL large-format retail centre in Western Sydney for a combined AU$170 million. ECQ will serve as the seed asset for the newly launched MA Large Format Retail Fund.

The company said it has transacted on AU$500 million of retail assets in the second half of 2026 and is in advanced due diligence on two additional assets for the new fund.

Joint CEO Julian Biggins said that once the recently exchanged assets settle, MA Financial will hold almost AU$5 billion in retail real estate assets across its funds, having transacted on an additional AU$2 billion in assets since acquiring the IP Generation business 12 months ago.

“This underscores our strong belief in the structural and macroeconomic tailwinds supporting Australian retail real estate, including population-led demand growth, resilient consumer expenditure, severely constrained supply and lower retail floorspace relative to global peers,” Biggins said. “This is driving both rental growth and shopping centre valuations.”

The Glen is a high-performing, institutional-grade retail asset on a 7.2-hectare site in Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs. It underwent a substantial redevelopment completed in 2020, has a 99% occupancy rate and is anchored by a large presence of non-discretionary retailers.

The acquisition price implies a passing yield of about 7.0%, and the transaction is expected to settle in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Chris Lock, MA Financial’s co-head of core real estate, called the purchase a rare opportunity to acquire a 50% share in a large-scale, high-performing shopping centre in one of Melbourne’s most affluent catchment areas.

“Centres of this scale and trading performance rarely transact, with only three regional shopping centres having traded in Greater Melbourne over the past decade,” Lock said.

For the new fund, MA Financial will seek to raise an initial AU$28 million to fund the AU$49 million acquisition of ECQ. The fund is in advanced due diligence to acquire two further large-format retail assets.

National vacancy rates for large-format retail assets have tightened to 2.8%, and market rents are up 21% since 2020, according to the company. Expiring leases across listed large-format retail portfolios are currently resetting at 6% to 8% above passing rent.

Lock said constrained supply, low vacancy rates and embedded rental reversion are creating attractive opportunities for income growth.

“We also see significant potential to create value through leasing, repositioning and active asset management within the assets we are focused on initially acquiring for the new Fund,” he said.

MA Financial Group is a global alternative asset manager specializing in private credit, real estate and hospitality. The company invests and manages AU$15.5 billion on behalf of clients, is responsible for AU$193 billion in managed loans and has advised on more than AU$135 billion in advisory and equity capital market transactions. It has over 900 professionals across Australia, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States.