Lendlease sells down asset ahead of investor showdown

Lendlease has sold half of its stake in the company’s life sciences operations in Asia, simplifying its business ahead of a showdown with angry shareholders clamouring for a complete overhaul of the global property giant.

Dissident high-profile investors led by John Wylie’s Tanarra Capital have called for a shake-up of Lendlease’s complicated empire, management changes, and are manoeuvring to get a seat at the table for the company’s next phase.

With shareholders agitating for change, Lendlease’s global chief executive Tony Lombardo will get to outline his program to simplify the company’s operations on May 27, amid speculation that chairman Michael Ullmer, who joined the Lendlease board in December 2011 and was appointed chairman in November 2018, will announce his retirement on the day.

The group on Friday declined to comment on the speculation, with a spokesman saying: “the board renewal process is underway and well advanced; no decisions have been made, and the market will be informed as appropriate.”

In a statement last week, Tanarra Capital said urgent board renewal was essential at Lendlease. Other investors such as Allan Gray and David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital have also criticised the makeup of Lendlease’s board, which until the appointment of former Mirvac boss Nick Collishaw in 2021, predominantly comprised of bankers such as former CBA chief financial officer David Craig.

“We have been equally clear that we expect the next chair of the company to be an external appointment with strong Australian property sector expertise,” the statement from Tanarra said.

“Our firm is always open to board involvement in all our portfolio companies, as we believe we bring a much-needed ownership mindset that is all too often missing in Australian boardrooms.”

Lombardo, who was the head of Lendlease’s Asian business before taking over the top job in May 2021, said on Friday that selling its life sciences interests in Asia to private equity group Warburg Pincus would unlock new opportunities for Lendlease.