Lendlease, Stockland Strike $1.3bn Deal for 12 Communities

Stockland Group will pump up its land bank to more than 95,600 lots as Lendlease works to ease pressure on its balance sheets with the pair striking a deal worth $1.3 billion.

Stockland has partnered with Thai investor Supalai Pcl to take 12 communities off Lendlease’s hands.

The communities each have an average of 2300 lots and in four states.

Sixty per cent of the projects are in Queensland, 21 per cent are in Victoria, 15 per cent in NSW and 4 per cent in WA for a total of 27,600 lots.

The communities will be acquired by the Stockland Residential Communities Partnership (SRCP), which is 50.1 per cent owned by Stockland with 49.9 per cent held by Supalai.

The acquisition marked a step change in the Stockland portfolio and advanced its strategy with increased investment in residential sectors, Stockland managing director Tarun Gupta, a former Lendlease chief financial officer, said.

It also expanded its capital partnership platform and created new, ongoing revenue sources, he said.

“SRCP achieves immediate scale with this acquisition.”

Supalai chief executive Dr Prateep Tangmatitham said the group had been actively investing in the Australian residential sector since 2014, and with Stockland since 2020.

“This investment further demonstrates our confidence in the underlying drivers of the market and provides us with exposure to a high-quality, well-located portfolio of communities in partnership with one of Australia’s leading residential developers,” he said.

▲ The Figtree Hill community in NSW is among those included in the deal, as is Springfield Rise in Queensland [main image].

The Lendlease Communities would retain four projects with a book value of about $200 million that are nearing completion or were expected to achieve greater future value through additional development activities, the developer said.

Lendlease said the transaction was expected to realise more than a 20 per cent premium to pre-tax book value for the 12 projects, contributing $130 million to $160 million to financial year 2024 core operating profit after tax.

“The $1.3-billion sale of 12 masterplanned communities provides Lendlease an opportunity to crystalise the value we have created in these projects,” chief executive Tony Lombardo said.

“We remain focused on recycling capital to accelerate our investments-led strategy and to maintain balance sheet flexibility to pursue future opportunities.”