Australian property giant Lendlease is in the late stages of inking a 50/50 joint venture with King Charles’ property company, The Crown Estate, in the United Kingdom.
The $3.8 billion ASX-listed property developer responded to media speculation on Thursday saying it was in negotiations with the King’s company over six projects that are part of its UK development portfolio.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Royal Ascot last year. The property company owns the racecourse.Credit: Getty
The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the UK belonging to the reigning British monarch that sit under a for-profit corporation managed by an independent board and chair.
They are neither government property nor part of the monarch’s private estate.
The estate is one of the UK’s largest property managers controlling about £15.5 billion ($32 billion) of urban and agricultural land, properties in the City of London and other areas, forests and half of the UK’s coastline. It owns Ascot Racecourse and Windsor Great Park.
The corporation made £1.1 billion profit in 2024, of which 12 per cent went to the King and the rest to the British Treasury.
“Negotiations are in the late stages with The Crown Estate to enter a 50/50 joint venture,” Lendlease said.
The prospective deal will halve Lendlease’s future funding obligations, accelerate its master planning in the UK for government clients and generate future fee income, it said.
Lendlease said it would earn fees as master developer of existing projects on behalf of the JV.
