July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Macquarie CountryWide Trust surged in Sydney trading after the company agreed to sell its 75 percent interest in a U.S. property portfolio for $1.3 billion to repair a balance sheet ravaged by the financial crisis.
Shares of the Sydney-based property trust jumped 9.5 cents, or 18 percent, to 61 cents at 10:10 a.m. local time, taking their gain since a February low to 485 percent.
Global Retail Investors LLC, a joint venture between the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and an affiliate of First Washington Realty Inc., has agreed to buy Macquarie CountryWide’s stake in the portfolio of 86 properties. Settlement of the contracts will occur in three parts, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange today.
So-called “satellite” businesses of Macquarie Group Ltd. including Macquarie CountryWide have been selling assets to pare back debt after the global financial crisis raised interest expenses and cut asset values. Macquarie CountryWide cut the overall book value of its assets by 10 percent in the six months to Dec. 31.
“Gearing and debt will be substantially lessened, providing the trust with greater flexibility to strategically respond to the continuing challenging market conditions,” Macquarie CountryWide’s Chief Executive Officer Steven Sewell said in the statement today.
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