Key Highlights

  • The sale of five retail Assets valued at $218.6 million settled on 22 October 2026.
  • REP has retained a 10 per cent interest in the new institutional trust that acquired the assets.
  • The company said pro forma gearing is expected to fall to 16.8 per cent, and it is finalising a refinancing of the fund's debt.

RAM Essential Services Property Fund (ASX:REP) has announced that the sale of five retail assets, valued at $218.6 million, settled on 22 October 2026. The announcement, issued by the board of the responsible entity, RAM Property Funds Management Limited, follows an earlier release on 18 August 2026 and the fund's FY26 annual report. The company said the transaction is consistent with the specialised real estate Investment trust model its board has previously outlined.

The assets that settled are Coomera Square, Springfield Fair, Keppel Bay Plaza, Coles Rutherford and Mowbray Marketplace. The announcement gives the combined transaction value of $218.6 million but does not provide individual asset values. The assets were acquired by a new institutional trust, and REP has retained a 10 per cent interest in that vehicle. The announcement does not describe the terms attached to that holding.

UBS Securities Australia Limited acted as financial adviser.

Debt reduction and gearing

Net proceeds will be applied to repaying debt. The company said pro forma gearing is expected to fall to 16.8 per cent following settlement. That figure is an expectation rather than a reported result.

Management also said it is finalising a refinancing of the fund's debt, but gave no details of lenders, amounts, margins or maturities.

Capital management

The release says details of the first stage of a proposed Capital management strategy will follow shortly. No timing, size or form of that strategy is given. The board said it is assessing capital management and other initiatives aimed at narrowing the discount at which the fund trades to its net tangible assets, and at maximising securityholder value. No specific measure has been announced.

Strategic direction

George Websdale, RAM executive director and head of real estate, said the retail sale is consistent with the board's previously announced plan to become a specialised REIT, and that the fund is well placed to continue shifting its focus towards healthcare. RAM Essential Services Property Fund (ASX:REP) is a stapled real estate investment trust listed on the ASX. Its portfolio is weighted mainly towards healthcare property, including private hospitals and healthcare operators, and it also holds essential retail assets anchored by national supermarket tenants.

The release does not quantify the fund's healthcare exposure compared with its remaining retail exposure after the sale. It also does not state the sale's effect on earnings, distributions or net tangible assets per security.

Pending matters

Settlement has occurred, so the sale is complete rather than conditional. The matters the company has flagged as pending are the completion of the Debt refinancing, the expected 16.8 per cent pro forma gearing, and the announcement of the first stage of the capital management strategy. The company has not given dates for any of these beyond saying the capital management details will follow shortly.

The announcement contains forward-looking statements about gearing, refinancing and strategy. The fund's Responsible Entity also manages the RAM Australia Retail Property Fund and the RAM Australia Medical Property Fund, which are not discussed in the announcement beyond their identification.