Lend Lease in merger talks with Mirvac

Lend Lease has held talks over a potential merger with fellow Australian property giant Mirvac.

Lend Lease, the parent company of Bovis Lend Lease and the developer of the Olympic Village site at Stratford City, has confirmed it has held talks over “possible transactions” with Mirvac.

However, it said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange that “there is no expectation or certainty that any transaction will result from these or any other discussions.”

Talks are rumoured to involve a reverse takeover of Lend Lease by its smaller rival Mirvac, which is keen to gain a foothold in the UK market. As well as the Olympic village, Lend Lease’s other high profile developments include the regeneration of Elephant & Castle in south London.

A merger would create Australia’s second-largest property group by value, behind Westfield. Mirvac currently has about 30,000 residential property developments in Australia and A$13.3bn funds under management.

Broker Goldman Sachs JBWere said that Mirvac’s development business could prove a strong attraction for Lend Lease, although other analysts have questioned the benefits of a possible merger. Merrill Lynch said that a deal could be “marginal at best from a strategic perspective”.