A privately owned property portfolio of 19 supermarket sites around the country - possibly valued at several hundred million dollars - has been put up for sale.
Privately owned by a UK investor for several years, the 18 Countdown sites include the Dunedin Cumberland St site, while in Queenstown there is the sole Fresh Choice-branded supermarket in the portfolio.
It was understood, but could not be confirmed, the entire portfolio could be valued in a range of between $150million and $200million.
Dunedin-based Colliers International associate director Dean Collins declined to estimate a value of the entire portfolio, saying it was the largest supermarket property investment offered in New Zealand for many years.
''The properties are for sale individually, or together as a single portfolio by international private treaty, which closes on September 9,'' he said.
He said the Dunedin property was one of the portfolio standouts, as an exceptional long-term investment, secured by a new 20-year lease to Progressive Enterprises, which operates the Countdown and Fresh Choice brands, and having 177 supermarkets and 18,000 employees around the country.
Progressive Enterprises NZ is owned by Australian giant Woolworths, which has a market capitalisation of $38.66billion and annual turnover of more than $66.3billion.
The Cumberland St premises has a rateable value of $12.8million and annual rental of almost $1.2 million, plus GST.
Aside from the new 20-year term, if Progressive exercised all its rights of renewal, it could add a further 30 years to the rental.
Queenstown has an almost $600,000 rental, with industry sources this week picking a more than $8million sale price.
''As an investment, this [Dunedin] property is very hard to beat; with a long lease term, A-grade strong tenant covenant backed by a large multinational corporation and a prime location occupying in excess of 1ha of prime central Dunedin CBD land,'' Mr Collins said.
The 1991-built 4200sq m building sits on an 11,575sq m freehold site, with three street frontages, and substantial car parking.
The entire portfolio of 19 properties provides a total annual rental of nearly $18.9million, with individual rent rolls ranging from about $430,000 per year to $1.7million, Mr Collins said.
''International-brand supermarket properties are a highly sought-after asset class,'' he said.
Mr Collins expected interest from a wide range of buyers, including private investors, family trusts, syndicates and institutional investors.
He said the long lease was extremely rare in the Dunedin market, and attractive in the low interest rate environment.
