Herbert Smith Freehills has advised QIC on the sale of one of its flagship commercial office buildings in Sydney for A$555 million.

In what is widely tipped to be the largest Australian commercial office deal of the year, the sale attracted extraordinary interest both nationally and internationally, with more than 40 qualified bidders being granted access to the Herbert Smith Freehills Data Room. The sale is said to reflect a purchasing cap rate of 5.5%, the first such sale in Australia below 6% for many years.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by Brisbane Partner Kerry Heilbronn and Executive Counsel Leone Costigan. They were strongly supported by Fabrizia Luca, Janeen Pickering, Marlowe Mitchell and Kate Howson and the vendor due diligence team from both the Sydney and Brisbane offices.

Kerry Heilbronn said, ‘We are very pleased to have been able to assist QIC in setting a new pricing benchmark for Commercial Office buildings in Australia.’