American insurance giant MassMutual is closing in on Victoria's Moorabbin Airport in a deal that is backed by some of the country's biggest superannuation funds and values the prized aviation infrastructure at around $1.5 billion. The transaction is now in the sights of Australia's competition regulator. According to a notice published in the ACCC's acquisitions register, the proposed acquisition is in a Phase 1 initial assessment.
The move is being closely watched across the local insurance market. MassMutual's push into a hard infrastructure asset on Australian soil — rather than a traditional underwriting or life insurance play — could signal a broader trend of global insurers chasing long-duration, inflation-linked cash flows to match their policyholder liabilities. For Australian insurers and brokers, a US giant taking a direct equity position in critical aviation infrastructure could raise fresh questions about competition for yield-bearing assets, the pricing of aviation and liability risk at privatised airports and the growing convergence between insurance balance sheets, superannuation capital and infrastructure ownership. It also puts local underwriters on notice that the country's airports — already tightly held — are now attracting a new class of deep-pocketed offshore insurance capital.
The consortium is led by MassMutual's asset management arm Barings and includes Aware Super and Rest Super, with Moorabbin's current owner, ASX-listed property developer Goodman, retaining a minority stake, the Australian Financial Review reported. The airport, south of Melbourne and used mostly for training pilots, has five runways and could be sold for more than $1.5 billion.
The Australian reported that the Barings group — backed by Aware Super, Rest Super and parent MassMutual — would take ownership of the airport precinct, while Goodman Group and its unlisted funds will stay invested even as Barings takes control.
The ACCC is assessing the impact of the acquisition on competition for both air services and warehousing in the area. The consortium proposes to acquire Moorabbin Airport Corp., which holds the long-term airport lease granted by the Commonwealth, as well as leasehold interests in non-aviation commercial properties surrounding the site.
Barings, according to news reports, manages some US$481 billion in assets and has partnered with Aware Super since 2013 on residential and industrial property developments, including the Altitude Industrial Estate at NSW's Bankstown Airport, according to the AFR. The Australian noted Barings already commands a $9 billion local property empire and has prior airport experience, having acquired local firm Altis — a co-investor with Aware in Bankstown and Camden airports — in 2022.
The deal lands at a delicate moment for global aviation. Ratings agency S&P Global has warned that airports could suffer from less travel in the coming months due to high fuel prices amid the war in the Middle East and rising airfares, the AFR reported.
"The next six months is going to be a little tough for the airports because passengers or people will not be jumping to book their tickets because the prices are still very high," S&P Global Ratings managing director Parvathy Iyer told the AFR. Even if oil tankers are allowed to travel freely through the Strait of Hormuz, Iyer said it could take months for fuel prices to normalise.
Still, airports will remain "critical" assets in Australia because of the country's vast distances and poor rail alternatives, she added in the AFR: "We do not have the alternate infrastructure to connect cities."
Moorabbin airport was privatised in 1998, bought by Goodman in 2010 for $201.5 million from the family of chief executive Greg Goodman, and, according to the AFR, the last 15 years has seen the development of thousands of square metres of land including leasing to tenants including Coca-Cola and spice group McCormick.
The Australian reported that industrial property in the Moorabbin precinct makes up about two-thirds of the site by value and is owned by an unlisted Goodman fund, while the listed company owns the aviation and ground leases, including some retailing. The airport hosts more than 250 businesses, including Kingston Central Plaza, Direct Factory Outlet and Chifley Business Park, alongside flight training, charter, freight and emergency services operations, and a single regular passenger service to King Island.
Rest Super has a direct 1.73 per cent stake in Australia Pacific Airports Corporation — owner of Melbourne and Launceston airports — and a further 2.8 per cent indirectly via managed funds, and has joined a complicated legal battle to retain those holdings, the AFR reported. The Australian noted Rest is indirectly embroiled in the dispute sparked when Dexus moved to sell about a third of the so-called Dexus Bloc, a 27.3 per cent stake it handles for clients including Rest.
The ACCC’s Phase 1 assessment can take up to 30 business days.
