Lendlease to offload $4b assets and end global strategy: AFR
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The news: Lendlease is set to shed its overseas construction divisions and terminate all international property development as it embarks on a significant overhaul, the Australian Financial Review reports.
The numbers: The real estate giant will exit or sell over $4 billion worth of international works, largely based in the US and UK, over the next three years.
The context: According to unnamed sources cited by the AFR, the Lendlease board has signed off on the plans which will be presented to shareholders on Monday morning during a company ‘strategy day.’ The funds raised from the sales will be funnelled toward paying down debt and returning capital to shareholders.
Lendlease has been under pressure from investors as shares in the company are down almost 20% this year and have more than halved over the last five years.
Lendlease has also been weathering a sustained activist campaign waged by investors in recent months. Allan Gray managing director Simon Mawhinney, John Wylie from Tanarra Capital, and David de Pillia from HMC Capital, have been pressuring Lendlease to sell assets, return capital, exit its underperforming developments abroad and focus on opportunities at home.
Last week Mawhinney called for the property giant to cull 75% of its corporate staff and shutter its Americas, Asia and Europe developments as part of the ongoing activist campaign.
The company is also set to renew its board over the coming six months, after announcing that its chair Michael Ullmer will retire from the board at the company's annual general meeting in November, along with non-executive director Nicola Wakefield Evans.
The source: Australian Financial Review
