Investa set to manage ING Office Fund

The deal comes after months of negotiations with the vendor of the rights, the Dutch ING Groep, which put its share of the five listed ING trusts on the market last July.

The ING Industrial Fund has been taken over by Goodman Group, while the future of the ING Healthcare, ING Entertainment and ING Real Estate Community Living funds remains unclear.

The current Australian manager of the fund, ING Management, led by Denis Hickey, had been keen to internalise the management of all of the funds, to no avail.

It is understood that Investa does not need a shareholder vote to buy the management rights.

If Investa wins the management rights to ING Office its assets under management will balloon to more than $9 billion, with properties including a 50 per cent stake in 10-20 Bond Street and 388 George Street, Sydney, and the Royal Mint Centre, 83 Latrobe Street, Melbourne.

Investa is one of Australia's largest owners, managers and developers of office towers, controlling about $6 billion of towers and development sites including Deutsche Bank Place in Sydney and Telstra headquarters in Exhibition Street, Melbourne.

ING Office has $2.7 billion of assets under management, including 17 office towers in Australia as well as an exposure to the US, which is showing an improvement in rental and occupancies.

A deal would make the vehicle one of the largest office funds in Australia and give Investa the firepower for listing an office fund.

Investa was previously listed but was taken over in late 2006 by Morgan Stanley which removed it from public lists.