Billionaires Gerry Harvey and Bob Ell spend up on commercial property

Retail billionaire Gerry Harvey will spend $31.8 million to buy a half stake in an Adelaide bulky goods complex, which has been put up for sale by Perth-based property developer Axiom Properties.

The deal involves the Gepps Cross Centre, which at 62,000 square metres is billed as the largest bulk goods centre in Australia.

The centre is spread across two sites. The centre Harvey has now bought into includes Harvey Norman, Spotlight, Nick Scali, Forty Winks, Radio Rentals and BCF stores, and was opened in June last year.

The other half of the centre is owned by the Harvey Norman corporate vehicle.

Axiom will retain the other half of the centre, which has tenants including The Good Guys, Super A-mart, Toys’r’Us, Rebel Sport and JB HiFi.

The Perth-based developer said in a statement that the property sale will help with its “previously stated commitment to restoring value for its shareholders through strengthening the balance sheet and a substantial reduction in the company’s overall debt position”.

It is Harvey’s second big bulk goods deal in recent months. In September it was revealed that Harvey’s private development company had paid $61 million to buy a Penrith shopping centre out of the hands of receivers.

Harvey had a long-running spat with the owners of the centre over parking problems.

In other property news, development company Leda Holdings, owned by billionaire Bob Ell, has purchased an industrial company in the Sydney suburb of Castle Hill for $14 million.

The property was owned by ANZ Specialist Asset Management. According to the Australian Financial Review, ANZ has been in the process of winding up this decision over the last 12 months.

Ell was valued at $1.1 billion on this year’s BRW Rich 200 list.