South32 to adorn city skyline
South32, the base metals spin-off being created by BHP Billiton, is set to join the Perth CBD skyline after confirming yesterday it had signed up as a tenant at 108 St Georges Terrace, the 52-level office tower developed by Alan Bond during his 1980s heyday.
As flagged by _WestBusiness _in November, South32 will take up 8300sqm to become one of the biggest tenants in the 39,000sqm tower, which is owned by two Brookfield entities.
South32 is expected to take up the offer of rooftop signage rights to promote its fledgling corporate identity, which was only unveiled a month ago.
The company would follow in the steps of previous rooftop signage hosts Bankwest, R&I and Bond Corp and, given the tower's 214m height (247m including the antenna), become one of the most prominent displays in Perth.
The $14 billion spin-off, which will house BHP's alumina, silver and manganese assets and some coal and nickel operations and employ about 25,000 people worldwide, remains conditional on BHP board and shareholder approval over coming months.
Notwithstanding a tough period in the resources space, BHP is not expected to do an about-face and axe the base metals spin-off. However, BHP has agreed to pay Brookfield "appropriate compensation" if the lease deal is terminated in the event the spin-off does not happen.
The 10½-year lease deal, which will boost the tower's occupancy to 75 per cent, is from May, when BHP shareholders will vote on the spin-off.
South32, to be run by former BHP chief financial officer Graham Kerr, has to move out of BHP's Perth headquarters at Brookfield Place.
It is unclear what BHP expects to do with the several empty floors it will be left with at Brookfield Place following an extensive jobs cull as well as the looming departure of the South32 team.
