Management at property developer Australand have met with new shareholder Stockland, but no formal offer has been made and no discussions on corporate activity have occurred.
Australand’s newly-elected chairman Paul Isherwood told the 50 shareholders at the meeting that the group had engaged advisors to assist the group should a proposal be received.
‘‘At this point, no proposal has been received from Stockland and as far as the group is concerned, we continue to focus on delivering returns for security holders,’’ Mr Isherwood said.
Speaking after the meeting in Sydney, the Australand managing director Bob Johnston said he had met with Stockland chief executive Mark Steinert, adding that he had known Mr Steinert for ‘‘a number of years’’.
‘‘We had a chat after Stockland bought its strategic 19.9 per cent stake in Australand, but nothing about a takeover or other alliances was discussed,’’ Mr Johnston said.
‘‘We assume that something may happen, but at this stage we have no idea of Stockland’s intentions.’’
Mr Johnston said Australand has been dealing with corporate activity since December 2013 [when GPT made an unsuccessful offer], ‘‘but we all turn up to work and do the best we can to improve the business and maximise shareholder returns’’.
Mr Johnston said he always fielded calls from superannuation funds and other investors for possible partnerships, but it was ‘‘business as usual for us’’.
In March, Australand said its full-year earnings guidance would be 17 per cent to 20 per cent higher, or, excluding a restructure of its derivatives, 10 per cent, which would put pressure on any predator to increase the price in the event of a full takeover.
The trigger for the upgrade was an improvement in the housing sector, particularly in NSW in the coming months. Australand has a December balance date and its profits have a skew to the second half, when sales are settled.
