Milan Santa Giulia: deal between Bizzi and Lendlease falls through
The Australian company has confirmed in a statement that the agreement to sell its stake in MSG Nort has been terminated. Unless an alternative transaction is finalised by 31 December 2026, the company risks losing 100 million euros
The deal has fallen through. It’s now official. Lendlease made the announcement on 9 November the termination of the agreement with Bizzi & Partners for the sale of its stake in the rights to the large-scale Santa Giulia urban development project in Milan (Msg North), held by Heartbeat Fund. There was an immediate impact on the share price of Risanamento Spa – the company led by Claudio Calabi, which is responsible for the remediation of the 110-hectare site on the outskirts of Milan – which yesterday closed on the Milan Stock Exchange with yet another sharp fall, recording a drop of 22.6 per cent (equivalent to €0.023 per share). The suspension of the sale of the fund’s shares (see *Il Sole 24 Ore* of 5 November) is certainly not helping, the crisis the company is currently facing.
The effects on society
As a result, the Australian property giant will no longer receive the cash proceeds, estimated at approximately 90 million Australian dollars (equivalent to approximately 55 million euros) for the first half of the 2027 financial year. The company itself has indicated this in a statement, explaining that it is considering alternative transactions for the MSG North project. ‘Should an alternative transaction not be finalised by 31 December 2026 – the statement reads – it is likely that Lendlease will have to assume the obligations relating to the project amounting to approximately 160 million Australian dollars in the first half of the 2027 financial year’. In practice, this amounts to approximately 100 million euros.
Lendlease – a company listed on the ASX in Sydney – is therefore still waiting to sell its 17.6 per cent stake (worth 217 million Australian dollars, 130 million euros). The announcement came after a series of delays: on 2 October, Lendlease had stated that certain unspecified conditions precedent to the completion of the deal had not been met and that the two parties had agreed to extend the deadline to 15 October. On 14 October, they announced a further extension until 18 December.
Partial sales
The statement clarifies that between Lendlease and Bizzi there are no grounds for continuing negotiations. This scenario makes the prospect of a piecemeal sale of the project to a consortium of buyers increasingly likely. According to market rumours, with the sole buyer having pulled out, there are reportedly several parties potentially interested in the individual lots. Among the operators reportedly reviewing the dossier ci sarebbero Coima, the asset management company founded and led by Manfredi Catella, and Hines Italia, headed by Raoul Ravara. On the international front, interest from Azora Capital, which is reportedly considering a residential development covering 36,000 square metres opposite Sky Italia’s headquarters, whilst the German firm CTS Eventim could acquire the site earmarked for the hotel, near the Olympic Arena they built.
The divestment plan
It all began in May 2024, when Lendlease’s board of directors admitted that the company’s performance and returns for shareholders had been poor. Since then, the Australian giant has recorded divestments totalling 3.4 billion dollars (2.1 billion euros) and has completed the sale of its military housing division in the US (516 million Australian dollars) and its life sciences assets in Asia (170 million). In the UK, it had sold its construction division to Atlas for around 70 million dollars and formed a joint venture with The Crown Estate for six projects to free up over 300 million.
