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Posted: 2017-07-18 16:01:24

The Muir family, who hit the jackpot with the sale of The Good Guys to JB Hi-Fi last year for $870 million, have added another $92 million to their fortune selling bulky goods stores leased to the retailer.

Wealthy private investors and a Sydney-based fund manager have pounced on nine stores leased to the electronics and whitegoods chain after a year-long sales process.

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Another six stores from the Muir's portfolio are either under offer or yet to be transacted, agents Savills Australia said.

They were expected to fetch a further $40 million.

The unnamed Sydney fund manager spent $63 million to snare the largest Good Guys outlet in Caringbah, Sydney for around $30 million, as well as a store in Ipswich, Queensland and three Victorian outlets in Thomastown, Geelong and Ballarat.

The Caringbah property included a building leased to a Super Amart store.

Another store in Bendigo sold to an investor for $5.2 million.

Properties in Ballina NSW, Cairns in Queensland, O'Connor in WA, and Bendigo in Victoria, also transacted.

"Purchase yields range from around 6.25 per cent for the capital city properties up to almost 8 per cent for regional properties – compelling returns for a yield-starved market," said agent Clinton Baxter, who handled the portfolio with Nick Peden and Steven Lerche.

The Muir family first offered 15 properties – all fully leased to The Good Guys in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and WA – to the market in April last year.

The family had founded and run The Good Guys since 1952.

At the time, Mr Muir told Fairfax Media they had put "a lot of blood, sweat and tears into finding the best portfolio over the years".

We expected strong interest from private investors seeking individual properties, but were particularly surprised by the numerous portfolio buyers.

Agent Clinton Baxter

As the family was no longer in the retail business, "we see that property holding as no longer being required," Mr Muir said.

The sale of the bulky goods portfolio had been eagerly anticipated in a market starved of tightly-held assets where long lease terms to high-profile national retailers attract investors.

Yields have sharpened significantly in Australia's capital cities where rents and prices are higher, while regional areas where there are fewer buyers have a broader spread.

"We expected strong interest from private investors seeking individual properties, but were particularly surprised by the numerous portfolio buyers seeking multiple properties across several states," Mr Baxter said.

Working through offers for the portfolio had slowed down the sales process.

"We're transacting the individual properties quite rapidly now," he said.

A store in Melbourne's Hoppers Crossing was under offer for $12 million, as were others in Bathurst, Coffs Harbour and Warrawong in NSW. Outlets in Mildura and Albury had yet to find buyers.

The deal is the largest in the sector since Aventus Retail Property beat tough competition in May this year to strike a deal for two large-format Home Hub centres, Castle Hill and Marsden Park, in Sydney for $436 million from LaSalle Fund Management.

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