Australia Post has confirmed it's considering selling off its seven colonial-era GPOs in major capital cities across the country.
It's understood the proposed deal would see the struggling national carrier sell a majority stake to an investor and initially retain 40 per cent ownership of the iconic buildings in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra.
In a brief statement released in response to media reports, the national carrier said:
We are in the early stages of reviewing our GPO properties to evaluate if there are opportunities to maximise return on these assets so that we can reinvest in our business to ensure our long-term sustainability.
If we decided to proceed, we would ensure the heritage significance of these properties is maintained.
No decision has been made and this process is only in market evaluation stage.
This is part of our regular review of our property portfolio.
Australian Post CEO Ahmed Fahour told the ABC that the historical significance of the buildings would be protected but added: "There is no sale going on right now."
The plan to attract property investment into a fund run by Eureka Funds Management was revealed in confidential investment documents obtained by The Australian Financial Review.
"This is truly an exceptionally rare offering of prime real estate, unlikely ever to be repeated," the expression-of-interest documents said. "The portfolio represents a compelling blue chip investment proposition, being well diversified by location, use and tenants."
Since posting a loss of $222 million last year, Australia Post has cut 900 workers, increased the price of ordinary stamps to $1 and introduced a two-speed mail service.