Wealthy family scoops up property bargain

The Laidlaw family, who sold the Hard Yakka brand to Pacific Brands in 2007, has paid about $75 million for an office building in the regional Victorian town of Geelong.

The Laidlaws received about $270 million from the sale of Hard Yakka and so are perfectly placed to take advantage of the poor state of the commercial property sectors, where high debt levels are forcing property owners to sell assets at bargain prices.

The 15,000-square metre office building in Geelong was completed last December. It is leased to the Victorian Government’s Transport Accident Commission for the next 15 years.

Listed Queensland property group FKP is in the middle of an asset sale program designed to reduce its debt levels.

Family patriarch John Laidlaw told The Australian Financial Review that the deal was the family’s first direct property investment.

“The opportunity was there so we took advantage of it.”

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