Good evening,

NSW Land Registry Services, the record-keeper of all property transactions in the state, will remain in the hands of its existing investors as NatWest Group Pension Fund’s year-long auction to sell its 20 per cent stake draws to a close.

Street Talk can reveal Aware Super, Macquarie’s The Infrastructure Fund, and Morrison & Co’s Utilities Trust of Australia have leveraged their pre-emptive rights to buy the entirety of the London-based investor’s stake in Australian Registry Investments.

All three have participated on a pro rata basis, sources said. The deal was completed on Monday and is set to be announced this week.

It means Aware and Morrison, which had owned 30 per cent each, will go up to 37.5 per cent each. TIF will move up from 20 per cent to 25 per cent. The deal marks the first ownership change at the asset, privatised by the NSW government for $2.6 billion in 2017 under a 35-year term. NatWest was advised by RBC Capital Markets.

NatWest’s intention to sell was first flagged by this column in May 2023. Aware Super, in particular, was known to be keen to increase its stake, given it scooped up the Victorian equivalent for $2.9 billion in 2019, and was among winning bidders for VicRoads’ $7.9 billion partial privatisation. And it has truckloads of mandatory superannuation money coming in every month.

Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page.

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Click here for the latest equity market wrap.