Chinese Developer Considers $10bn Deal for Australian Homebuilder

• 31 December 2015
• Local News
• 882 Views

Chinese property developer Country Garden is negotiating to buy Meriton, Australia’s largest residential builder.

Chinese construction firms’ have been increasingly looking to expand outside China because of concerns over domestic overcapacity and slowing sales.

Triguboff has put a value of A$10bn ($8.7bn) on the company, a price tag that would make him the second richest person in Australia after the mining heiress Gina Rinehart.

A 12% rise in the value of apartments in Sydney has seen Meriton’s value and its rate of house-building increase; greatly assisted by its purchase of A$1bn of land since January 2013. Meriton currently owns enough land to build 15,000 flats and sells about 15% of its flats to Chinese investors.

Country Garden sold $11.9bn of property last year, mostly apartments, and is projected to turn over up to $18.5bn next year.

Country Garden was the creation of another self-made billionaire, Yang Guoqiang, who began his career as a labourer on construction sites.