Seven Hills Investment Strategy
The following statement was made to potential investors in the Information Memorandum dated 18 September 2026
The Trustee believes that over time land rich properties experience better than average capital appreciation. This is simply because buildings depreciate and eventually require replacement, whilst industrial land in Greater Sydney has historically appreciated at twice the rate of inflation. Consequently, one of Pipeclay’s core investment strategies is to acquire and hold well-located land wherever there is a long-term occupant willing to pay a meaningful rent and the associated holding costs. This Investment offers Unitholders that opportunity.
The industrial precinct in Seven Hills is a highly convenient and well-connected industrial location. The Property is within
minutes of the junction of the M2 and M7 motorways, Old Windsor Road and the Prospect Highway, providing access to
approximately 3 million potential consumers within a 30-minute driving radius. The area is also well serviced by public transport
and accessible to a vast skilled workforce.
The vendor and tenant, MBS, has agreed to a 15-year triple net lease. They will be responsible for all occupancy costs incurred
during the lease term. The improvements on site are approaching the end of their useful life and whilst suitable for their current
use, they are unlikely to appeal to alternative users. On expiry of the lease, the Investment Manager expects the site to be sold as
a brownfield redevelopment.
There are therefore two critical success factors underlying an investment in the Trust:
1. the tenant meeting its lease payment obligations; and
2. the growth in the site’s underlying land value over the duration of the lease.
The MBS Group are a leading global manufacturer and supplier of concrete admixtures and technologies. It was initially established in Cleveland in 1909 and currently employs circa 2,000 people across 47 facilities in 36 countries. The MBS Group had net sales of €900 million in 2024 and an EBITDA of €114 million in 2025. The Australian subsidiary, MBS, has sales revenue of $124 million and appears to be a substantive part of the MBS Group.
The Property will be acquired for $18.3 million which is $1,488 per sqm of land. The Investment Manager believes industrial land
in Seven Hills that is available for immediate development is currently trading somewhere between $1,350 and $1,530 per
sqm. The bank valuation undertaken for this transaction prudently estimates the land value to be $1,350 per sqm. Comparable transactions are generally in short supply. Seven Hills has historically been a tightly held mature market. The most recent comparable sale of a brownfield development site in Seven Hills was 120-122 Station Street, an 11,394 sqm site with several older style buildings. That site was available for immediate redevelopment and acquired for $17.80 million or $1,562 per sqm ($1,530 per sqm after allowing for residual lease income and demolition costs).
The Investment Manager expects land values in Seven Hills to remain flat for a period. Industrial land values across Sydney have
experienced significant growth since 2021. Periods of significant capital growth have traditionally been followed by periods of
stagnation and consolidation. Ultimately, however, the Investment Manager believes well located industrial land in Sydney will continue to be in increasing demand and therefore for historical trends to continue.
The investment model assumes that the tenant will meet its lease obligations for the initial term, that it will not exercise its option
to extend the lease for a further 5-year term and that the property is sold in the final year of the current lease (2041) for $34.55 million being $2,800 per sqm of land (which represents average growth of 5% p.a.). In which case the overall return to unitholders (net of all fees) for the circa 14.5-year term of the Trust will be 11.0% p.a.
If the tenant extends the lease, the Trustee will review the market at that time and recommend either that the Property be sold
subject to the new lease or that the Trust be extended for an additional period.
Source: Information Memorandum dated 18 September 2026
