This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CONSOLIDATED Properties has into a joint venture with CEC Group to develop in excess of 8,000 lots of land in the Cairns, Townsville and Mackay regions.
The joint venture entity will acquire substantially all of CEC Group’s residential land bank located in Cairns, Townsville and Mackay following independent valuations.
The purchase price is expected to range between $80 million and $120 million.
The transaction is planned to be completed in the first quarter of the 2008-09 fiscal year.
CEC Group will provide construction and engineering services to the joint venture and Consolidated Properties will provide project management, marketing and sales services to the joint venture.
Consolidated Properties’ managing director Don O’Rorke said CEC Group had the largest and highest quality land bank in North Queensland.
“Consolidated Properties has already invested in major North Queensland developments with a combined end value exceeding $1 billion.
“We will bring to the joint venture entity our master planning and marketing skills which we have finetuned during the development and selling of large-scale estates such as the $1.5 billion Casuarina Beach township in northern New South Wales.” he added.
CEC Group’s chief executive Roy Lavis said the proposed joint venture was part of a restructuring by CEC Group to focus on its construction and engineering activities.
“Following the sale of our land bank, CEC Group will retire a substantial amount of debt. CEC Group’s Directors announced at the time of the release of the Group’s December half results that a reduction in debt and restructuring was a priority for the company.
“CEC Group is able to strengthen its financial position, while at the same time retaining a long-term pipeline of civil engineering and construction work,” he concluded.
O’Rorke said once established the joint venture entity would seek to buy additional sites from third parties.
Trinity’s chief executive Ben McCarthy said the proposed joint venture with CEC Group would allow the group to investigate an opportunity to strengthen its dominant market position in North Queensland by securing control of a series of sites in a single transaction.
The joint venture and the transaction is subject to the boards of both parties approving the terms and conditions of the binding agreements regarding the joint venture, its structure, financing and corporate governance.
Australian Property Journal
