UK's Scarborough targets Australian real estate

SYDNEY: U.K. property investor Scarborough Group International and two Australian firms -- fund manager Acorn Capital and Pacific Shopping Centres -- have jointly launched a new Australian firm targeting stalled development projects.

The new firm, Scarborough Pacific Group, has secured the management of two wholesale development funds to pursue retail and residential mixed-used development projects in Sydney.

Nicki Garrett, director of funds management at Scarborough Pacific, said a lack of finance in property development had triggered opportunities.

"We are hopeful that we can fill that gap," Garrett said.

Garrett declined to specify how much capital or seed money Scarborough Pacific had lined up, but said it may raise money by launching wholesale funds in the future.

Scarborough Group already has ties with Australia after Australia's Valad Property Group bought Scarborough's fund management business and some property portfolios in 2007.

Scarborough Group's founder Kevin McCabe, who owns English Championship soccer club Sheffield United, said in a statement that the current volatility in the property and financial markets in Australia would give "once in a generation opportunities."