This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
STOCKLAND has confirmed it looking to sell off an Illawarra housing estate in a bid to win approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for its $1.3 billion acquisition of master-planned communities from Lendlease.
Stockland, its investment partner Thai group Supalai, and Lendlease were given until 12th September by the consumer watchdog to reshape their agreement to sell 12 communities across the country, over concerns the deal would remove one of Stockland’s closest and largest competitors in the supply of residential master-planned community housing lots in four regions – namely, the Illawarra, North West Perth, Ipswich, and Moreton Bay.
The ACCC had advised they would need to take out five communities located in those four regions from the deal, or to convince it otherwise that the deal should go ahead.
“The ACCC is concerned that the proposed acquisition may increase Stockland’s incentive to raise the price, delay the supply, or reduce the quality of housing lots in these regions, to the detriment of prospective homeowners,” said ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver.
Stockland yesterday said it is “progressing discussions with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission regarding a proposal by Stockland to divest its 100% interest in the master-planned residential community development at Forest Reach in the Illawarra region of NSW to address the concerns raised regarding the proposed acquisition of the 12 master-planned residential communities by the Stockland Supalai Residential Communities Partnership”.
The ACCC has not confirmed whether it will accept the proposal.
In it own statement, Lendlease said it “continues to support Stockland in its engagement with the ACCC to resolve the issues raised by the regulator and to work with Stockland to satisfy all conditions precedent to enable the completion of the transaction as soon as possible”.
The ACCC had already pushed back the decision on whether to allow the deal to proceed – prompting the Lendlease to slash its core operating profit projections for FY24 by nearly a third.
The 12 master-planned communities are located in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia and comprise a total of 27,600 housing lots.
