Lendlease has agreed to sell its last 25.1% stake in Keyton, the country’s biggest retirement village operator, to Aware Super for $525 million.
Aware Super already owns 49.9% of Keyton, so the transaction hands it effective control of the entire platform.
The deal ends Lendlease’s three-year push to exit the retirement living sector.
The transaction also lands just days before the group’s chief executive steps down earlier than planned to make way for a new leader starting in September.
Keyton has been a central piece of Lendlease’s broader strategy to shrink and simplify its portfolio, with the group using a dedicated Capital Release Unit to unwind positions.
The Keyton sale is described internally as another major asset being offloaded under this programme.
Lendlease updated investors via a market statement on Thursday, issued after its shares went into a trading halt.
The timing shows how material the exit is for the company’s restructuring effort.
The Capital Release Unit has become the focal point for Lendlease’s planned reset, tasked with recycling capital out of non-core or legacy assets.
With the Keyton transaction, Lendlease says its announced and completed capital recycling initiatives now total $3.4 billion.
That figure shows a significant reallocation of funds away from businesses like retirement villages and into areas the group sees as higher priority.
For Aware Super, increasing its Keyton stake concentrates its exposure to Australia’s ageing population and the retirement living market.
