Dexus

So Lendlease, for example, have, um, have developed a new, uh, you know, a fit out guide that provides metrics around embodied carbon for, for fit outs for their, for their tenants.

Dexus have launched a new product called the Forever Fitout, where they're more or less providing a, a furniture leasing service.

And you know, JLL has actually kicked off one of those as well, so it's based out of Hong Kong, and it's, it's called our Furniture Solutions business.

So I think there are some evolving things, and, um, that can help occupiers, um, a- and, and landlords, but then reduce the embodied carbon of fit outs.

So yeah, Specialist Real Estate Investment Management Firm.

We sold it to Dexus in about 2021.

What was the chairman and the founder?

Chairman, he owned 26% of it and he kind of stepped in.

But, you know, if you take a calculated risk and the upside's there, then that's, you know, stood us in relatively

good stead and with the benefit of hindsight, so.

You had this amazing exit to Dexus for $130 million.

Can you talk us through that process? Obviously, Dexus is a massive ASX listed, one of the biggest property businesses in the country.

That is one scenario where we think investors have taken it too far.

Of course, nothing gets cheap without some hair on it, but Texas does have some very, very high quality assets and today trades at a very substantial discount to their net tangible assets and the cost of replacing those assets.

Not a lot of suppliers coming online.

So we're looking for those opportunities.

Yeah.

So nothing too major in the short term.

I mentioned Dexus.

That would have been our largest ad during August.

And Teepa Minerals had some draw results.

And there was also a little bit of news from Insurance Australia Group, Dexus and INA.

Looking now to global markets, and it looks like we're going to get a solid opening for the US.

S&P 500 futures currently up 0.5%, NASDAQ up 0.7%.

Let's turn our attention to the first five as chosen by you then.

Insurance Australia Group, Dexus, Subjective Corporation, Flight Centre and Telstra.

All right, let's kick it off in the insurance space.

Insurance Australia, Trevor asking about this one.

He said, look, take profits, particularly given where those bond yields are going.

And Howard more likely to hold it, but points out it's not likely to be a wealth winner for you, obviously.

Dexus in the REIT space, no from Howard.

And look, Nathan is of a similar view.

When you look at active versus index, typically index outperforms, so it's similar to developed global markets.

So I wouldn't be investing, wouldn't be attracted to investing in actively managed REITs from, you know, whether it's Dexus or whether it's Charter Hall or any of those sorts of providers.

So that's really a comment about how you would execute the investment, not whether you would execute the investment.

That's exactly how property should behave.

Initially found nothing, and then eventually did find that most of the allegations were accurate.

Here's what Dexus CEO Warwick Negus said about that during the parliamentary committee hearing.

Dexus is a big real estate asset manager and one of KPMG's frustrated audit clients.

Mr. Negus, what is, what is your sense of the appropriateness of re-engaging the same law firm that has helped you stay in hot water and stew for some period of time?

Chair, my instinct would be to use a, a separate firm.

Because I don't doubt that Paramount have been approached by pretty much everybody along the way.

You know, Dexus would have loved it.

You know, LRG, Lomond, all of those guys, I'm sure.

And so, you know, Either they've paid an eye-popping amount of premium over what Paramount were being offered elsewhere, or the tie-up is just so good that actually, you know, whatever equity split between the previous owners and Dwelly just makes much more sense to them.

Their information was allegedly used to inform the audit, uh, bids for other companies.

So when they're trying to get an audit at, uh, Dexus, which, uh, makes data centers, at Macquarie, which is, uh, probably the most valuable audit in Australia, it's worth about $1 billion over 10 years, um, they're using this internal information to have better insight.

Uh, so there's a lot of different elements to this scandal about people who probably shouldn't have been in the room, people who probably shouldn't have had access to this information, and it can seem quite technical, but the core of it is this: They have broken the trust of the companies that are paying them to scrutinize their books for the benefit of the public so that we can have some certainty that the numbers are what they are, and they've broken that trust to try and win more money in a really underhanded and surreptitious way.

Well, one of those companies, like you mentioned, was Macquarie Bank.