Charter Hall closes Mac shares deal

Charter Hall took over the management of the listed Macquarie Office Trust and Macquarie CountryWide Trust in March 2010, which included the purchase of securities in the trusts over a staged period, which ended yesterday.

Last year's deal marked the end of Macquarie Bank's interest in the real estate investment trust (REIT) sector, which under the guidance of former director Bill Moss founded the model. Mr Moss joined with US hedge funds Orange Capital, Point Lobos and Luxor Capital in a failed attempt to oust Charter Hall as manager of the Charter Hall Office REIT.

In August a separate Macquarie-led consortium of funds launched an offer for the office fund, valued at $1.7 billion.

Charter Hall's advisers, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and the office funds' independent directors are now in discussions to lift the offer price from $2.39 a unit, which rises to $3.52 after an addition $1.13 capital return from the proceeds of the US asset sales to Beacon Capital Partners.