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- Australia’s biggest airline Qantas (QAN) has agreed to sell 13.8 hectares of land in Mascot for $802 million to reduce COVID-19 debt
- The buyer is a consortium led by LOGOS Property Group and the deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year
- Additionally, the parties have also entered into discussions about potential future development options for the sites that LOGOS is purchasing
- This includes a dedicated precinct for Qantas, as well as the sale of a further three hectares of land that adjoins some of the lots being sold
- On the market today Qantas is up 2.33 per cent and is trading at $5.71 per share at 1:44 pm AEST
National carrier Qantas (QAN) has agreed to sell 13.8 hectares of land in Mascot for $802 million to pay off some of its debt due to COVID-19.
The buyer of the land is a consortium led by LOGOS Property Group.
Australia’s biggest airline is expecting the deal to be completed by the end of the year.
Additionally, the parties have also entered into discussions about potential future development options for the sites LOGOS is purchasing. This includes a dedicated precinct for Qantas, as well as the sale of a further three hectares of land that adjoins some of the lots being sold.
Qantas is expecting to complete evaluations of these proposals in early 2022 and, if an agreement is reached, has the potential to raise the total value of the deal to more than $1 billion.
The sale of the largely undeveloped land in Mascot, near Sydney Airport, follows a three-month expression of interest process, which resulted in 18 bids.
Qantas will lease back portions of the land as arrangements are made to relocate some of the functions and while LOGOS progresses its broader development.
CEO Alan Joyce said the company went into the sale open-minded about whether to sell some or all of the land. The market response was extremely strong and this resulted in the sale of all the land.
“We’ll use these funds to help pay down debt that we’ve built up during the pandemic. The strength of this sale and its impact on our balance sheet means we can get back to investing in core parts of our business sooner,” Mr Joyce said.
“The extended lockdowns and border closures of the past few months have been extremely tough, but this transaction adds to the growing momentum around our recovery.”
“The restart date for international travel has been brought forward and the thresholds for domestic borders opening in most states should be reached in the next two months. We know there is a lot of pent-up demand that we’re ready to capitalise on, with some strong signs already.”
On the market today Qantas is up 2.33 per cent and is trading at $5.71 per share at 1:44 pm AEST.
