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Qantas Airways strengthens balance sheet with US$595 million from Sydney property sale
October 15th 2021
Qantas is contemplating a new headquarters complex after selling 13.8 hectares of land near Sydney airport for A$802 million (US$595m). Read More » Proceeds from the sale will help the Australian company pay down debt accrued during the pandemic, but Group CEO, Alan Joyce, said it could pave the way for a new “Qantas Precinct” as part of the new owner’s redevelopment plans. The carrier announced Friday it had sold the land in the Sydney suburb of Mascot to a consortium led by LOGOS Property Group. It expects settlement of most of the lots to take place before the end of the calendar year and the benefits to be reported in its interim results in February. Talks also are underway with LOGO about the sale of an additional three hectares that, if successful in 2022, could boost the total value of the deal beyond A$1 billion. Qantas said the sale of the largely underdeveloped land followed a three month expression of interest process that produced a strong response and drew 18 bids from Australian and international syndicates, “We will use these funds to help pay down debt we have built up during the pandemic,’’ Joyce said. “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. 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 Qantas Group boss said the potential to work with LOGOS on creating a Qantas precinct could see a new headquarters combined with a relocated training centre and distribution hub next to the airport “rather than being spread across different parts of Mascot as they are now”. “This would take several years to deliver but it is something we are actively considering given we lease our current head office. It would need to drive efficiencies in how we operate and make a material contribution towards lowering our emissions footprint through its design,” he said.
