Sunland Group: Development giant sells to new owner who reveals plans for its future

Delisted development giant Sunland has been sold after a months-long tug-of-war over its future. The company’s new owner has revealed his plans for it. FIND OUT MORE

Delisted development giant Sunland has been sold after a months-long tug-of-war over who would control the remains of the company which built the Q1 and Palazzo Versace.

Sun Holdings GC, a company linked with fellow developer Ron Bakir of Homecorp, has acquired all of the shares in Sunland, which was co-founded by his close friend and majority shareholder, Soheil Abedian.

Sunland shareholders, which include members of the Abedian family, on Wednesday received their dividend payout of 6.5c per share, with the buyout completed on Thursday, bringing a close to the near-five-year winding-down process.

Ron Bakir Photo: Regi Varghese

However, Mr Bakir said he planned to continue using the Sunland name and branding.

“Sunland is a great brand which must be carried forward in the future, because it has a great history with landmark projects and we are very happy to carry that name on in the future,” he said.

“This is part of the strategic direction into the future.

“This transition is in the best interest of shareholders and it is great to be out of the bidding war we were in.”

The future of Sunland, and who would be responsible for its financial liability going forward, was the subject of an intense bidding war through 2024 as several parties, including Mr Abedian, all vied for control.

The three bidders were Mr Bakir, Mr Abedian and Harvest Lane Asset Management, a Sydney-based firm.

Mr Bakir made an offer in early July 2024 to buy up all remaining shares of Sunland for 4.5c.

A further bid was received in mid-August by Harvest Lane for 5c.

Homecorp initially exited the race, leaving Harvest Lane as the sole remaining bidder.

In early September, Mr Abedian, via his private Mermaid Beach-based Abedian and Co outfit, lodged his own offer of 7c.

The company was founded in the early 1980s.

Prior to lodging his own bid, Mr Abedian told the Sunland board he would not support a Harvest Lane takeover.

The company’s final share price before its delisting in late 2023 was 73c.

However, according to an independent expert’s report, prepared for shareholders by Grant Thornton Corporate Finance priced Sunland’s remaining shares at between 0.045c and 0.06c each.

Ultimately Mr Bakir’s bid was accepted by the board.

The Homecorp boss said 2025 would be a big year for his development ambitions, having completed his Eve Residences project at Labrador, broken ground on a new tower project in Varsity Lakes and entering the Melbourne market.

“We broke ground on Varsity and we have a few other projects in the pipelines which will be launching in the next few months,” he said.

Sunland, founded in 1983 by Mr Abedian and Foad Fathi, has been winding down since 2020. In November 2023, Soheil and Sahba Abedian both resigned following the delisting, severing the family’s 40-year directorship of the company.

Soheil Abedian. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The elder Mr Abedian had been its chairman while his son was its long-serving managing director.

The Abedians’ positions were made redundant after the sale of its remaining assets and both resigned their board seats in the now-delisted company.

The Abedians have since launched their own private development enterprises, which have more than $2.8bn of projects on the books.

Soheil Abedian welcomed Mr Bakir’s successful takeover.

“We are happy he has done this, he will look after all the liability and the name will go with him,” he said.

“This is a journey which has taken us from a single house on Benowa’s Cabana Boulevard 43 years ago to now when we created 45,000 unit dwellings across the world.

“We expanded to Dubai where we built their Palazzo Versace and the twin of Q1, D1.

“This is a journey which has been truly remarkable for a Gold Coast company to actually survive across four decades without going bankrupt or having any difficulties, even in the financial crisis.

“We have now created a private company and our first project, Peerless, is now under construction and we will be launching our next developments at Mary Ave and Greenmount soon.”