ACCC probes $1.6bn sale of Moorabbin Airport to US-led consortium

ACCC probes $1.6bn sale of Moorabbin Airport to US-led consortium
Find property Invest Find agencies News
COMMERCIAL NEWS Latest News Market Insights Investing Buying & Selling Leasing Small Business Podcast
ACCC probes $1.6bn sale of Moorabbin Airport to US-led consortium
Share
Buying & Selling
Ben Wilmot
First published
24 April 2026, 6:00am
Greg Goodman’s listed company is selling off an airport but will keep a stake in the new ownership group. Picture: John Feder/The Australian
The competition regulator is scrutinising the $1.6bn sale of Melbourne’s Moorabbin Airport by industrial property company Goodman Group to a consortium led by international funds manager Barings.
Under the deal the Barings group, backed by superannuation funds including Aware Super and Rest Super, and US group MassMutual, which is its parent, will take ownership of the airport precinct.
In a twist, Goodman Group, which alongside its own unlisted funds is selling the airport precinct, will also stay invested as Barings takes control.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is assessing the impact of the acquisition on competition for both air services and warehousing in the area.
The Australian revealed the deal last month as big investors chase exposure to airports, despite global volatility. Airports are attractive due to the ability to add value to them by developing surrounding properties.
The deal would be a coup for Barings, which already has a $9bn local property empire, including experience in airports.
The ACCC said the consortium proposed to acquire Moorabbin Airport Corp., which holds the long-term airport lease granted by the Commonwealth over the airport in Melbourne’s southeast suburbs. They would also pick up leasehold interests in non-aviation commercial properties around the airport site.
The funds involved are among the largest in Australia.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb during a panel discussion at the ASIC annual conference. Picture: John Feder/The Australian
Rest Super is, separately, an owner of a stake in Melbourne Airport. It is indirectly embroiled in the complex legal dispute about that airport sparked when Dexus moved to sell about one-third of an overall 27.3 per cent stake – known as the Dexus Bloc – which it handles for clients including Rest.
Aware Super is also invested in airports. Local firm Altis teamed up with Aware, when it was known as First State Super, to buy Bankstown and Camden airports in Sydney for $203m in 2015. Barings then acquired Altis in 2022.
Those are now run under the Aeria Management Group banner, and it has pushed into logistics developments. But the Sydney airports and facilities are unconnected to the play for the airport in Melbourne.
Goodman has been recycling capital from its long-held assets as part of its shift into a wider digital infrastructure business. It has forged ahead in developing data centres around the world and is also expanding in large-scale logistics facilities and warehouses globally.
This week a Goodman fund backed by a Malaysian group sold two blue-chip warehouse properties in Sydney’s western suburbs for $438m to fund manager Aliro on a crisp yield in the mid-4 per cent range.
Moorabbin Airport houses flight training, private air charters, freight, recreational flying and air work and emergency services. It has one regular passenger transport service to King Island. It also has more than 250 mixed-use, large and small businesses, including Kingston Central Plaza, Direct Factory Outlet and the Chifley Business Park.
Industrial property in the Moorabbin precinct, which makes up about two-thirds of the site by value, is owned by an unlisted Goodman fund, while the company owns the aviation and ground leases, including some retailing.
Goodman Group bought Moorabbin Airport from a company linked to its now billionaire chief executive, Greg Goodman , in 2010. The Goodman family’s Goodman Holdings and Beeside sold the property for $201.5m to the listed property trust.
The parties declined to comment on the transaction.
Share
TOPICS
Airport
Melbourne
Moorabbin
VIC
Victoria
Like us on Facebook to stay up to date with commercial property news:
Read More
Related Articles
Buying & Selling
Bowral Milk Factory Gallery hits the market for the first time in over 30 years
Buying & Selling
Landmark Cairns hotel sold in blockbuster off-market deal
Buying & Selling
‘Timing is everything’: $60m Hobart site for sale
Related Articles
Buying & Selling
Bowral Milk Factory Gallery hits the market for the first time in over 30 years
Buying & Selling
Landmark Cairns hotel sold in blockbuster off-market deal
Buying & Selling
‘Timing is everything’: $60m Hobart site for sale
COMMERCIAL NEWS
Latest News Market Insights Investing
Buying & Selling Leasing Small Business Podcast
Australia’s leading destination for commercial property news, including information on buying, leasing, investing, small business and market insights. Powered by Australia’s leading news organisations.
Advertise with us
About us
Agent admin
Contact us
Subscriber Terms
Terms of Use
Privacy
Careers
Site map
Mobile apps
International sites
India
United States
International properties
Partner sites
news.com.au
foxsports.com.au
Mansion Global
askizzy.org.au
proptiger.com
realcommercial.com.au is owned and operated by ASX-listed REA Group Ltd (REA:ASX) © REA Group Ltd.
By accessing or using our platform, you agree to our Terms of Use.

Text scraped from the landing page for research purposes. © respective owners. This text is sourced from the advertiser's public landing page; for removal, contact dmca@luba.media.