Rest has acquired a one-third stake in Melbourne’s Moorabbin Airport, extending the $112 billion profit-to-member fund’s push into Australian industrial property.

The fund settled the acquisition as part of an investor consortium led by Barings, buying the 294-hectare landholding from Goodman Group. Barings has been appointed investment manager, property services manager and development manager.

“The opportunity to acquire a suburban airport in a major Australian city is relatively rare. They are typically tightly held by investors for long periods, so we are pleased to acquire this stake in Moorabbin Airport on behalf of our members,” said Andrew Bambrook, Rest head of investments, real assets.

“The airport is a strategic asset expected to generate strong, defensive income streams as part of Rest’s well diversified portfolio.

The fund also expects the airport to benefit from deglobalisation and the continued onshoring and diversification of supply chains, with the landholding including a mix of tenants across manufacturing, logistics retail and business services.

“The airport is ideally located in southeast Melbourne, which is home to Australia’s largest manufacturing workforce and is one of the tightest industrial markets in the country, with vacancy rates below long-term averages,” Bambrook said.

“It also features good access to key transport corridors, supporting both domestic and international connectivity.

The deal deepens a partnership between Rest and Barings that dates to 2023, following joint acquisitions including Access Logistics Park in Sydney’s south-west, a 12-asset industrial portfolio across Sydney and Melbourne, and a seed investment in an industrial estate at Truganina in Melbourne’s west.