Nick O’Neil takes over as Lendlease’s group CEO and managing director in September (Image: Sydney Airport)
Lendlease on Thursday named AustralianSuper executive Nick O’Neil as group CEO and managing director, appointing leadership for the next stage of the ASX-listed developer and fund manager’s turnaround.
O’Neil, currently head of Australian real assets at the superannuation fund, will start in the top job at Lendlease on 10 September. Incumbent CEO Tony Lombardo is set to leave the group by the end of this month after previously planning to step down in August.
“With our strategy reset, portfolio simplification and foundations firmly in place, Nick is ideally positioned to lead the next phase of revitalising and strengthening Lendlease,” Lendlease chairman John Gillam said in a release. “He brings deep real asset management experience, a strong track record in global investment and innovation in aligning capital to market opportunities, as well as the leadership experience needed to drive execution and growth.”
Lombardo, who has spent nearly two decades with Lendlease including the past five years as group CEO, is joining Singapore-listed Frasers Property as chief operating officer in October, with the accelerated handover coming as Lendlease looks to reset around its Australia-led strategy.
Top-Level Turnover
O’Neil’s appointment caps a months-long reshuffle of Lendlease’s senior ranks, as the Sydney-based group works to simplify a business that has been battered by weak earnings, investor frustration and a retreat from much of its overseas development exposure.
Current CEO Tony Lombardo is leaving Lendlease earlier than expected (Image: Frasers Property)
Claire Johnston became chief executive for development in April, shifting from her role as CEO of the Americas after development chief Tom Mackellar left the company, reportedly to lead regional expansion at Blackstone-backed data centre operator AirTrunk.
The shake-up continued in May, when investment management CEO Justin Gabbani said he would leave Lendlease at the end of June to pursue an external opportunity. Gabbani is exiting after more than two decades with the group, including four years as chair of the manager of Singapore-listed Lendlease Global Commercial REIT.
Penny Ransom, who joined Lendlease in 2022 and became chief investment officer in 2024, is set to succeed Gabbani as investment management CEO on 1 July. She will also join chief financial officer Andrew Nieland in leading the CEO’s office on an interim basis until O’Neil starts in September.
O’Neil brings more than 25 years of experience across investment strategy, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, asset management and capital raising, including 17 years with Macquarie Group across Australia, the US and Latin America.
At AustralianSuper, he oversees holdings in residential property, airports, toll roads, logistics, energy and infrastructure, including data centres. He has served on the boards of Sydney Airport, wireless tower operator Indara and Vantage Data Centres Europe.
“It is a privilege to lead this storied company,” O’Neil said. “The technical capability of Lendlease’s people is broad, deep and unique. I am excited by the opportunity to work with that world-class capability to deliver the services and investment opportunities that our clients are looking for.”
Recycling in Progress
The leadership change comes after Lendlease posted a loss of A$318 million ($225 million) for the six months to December, reversing a year-earlier profit of A$48 million as non-cash investment property revaluations and impairments totalling A$118 million weighed on results.
In a separate market update on Thursday, Lendlease maintained fiscal 2026 earnings guidance of 28 to 34 Australian cents per security for its investment, development and construction business. It warned that the timing of asset sales and more challenging market conditions are set to push underlying group gearing into the mid-30 percent range at the end of June.
The company said several conditions had been satisfied on the sale of its TRX retail and office assets in Malaysia, with the disposal expected to generate A$400 million in proceeds before 30 June. Lendlease’s A$300 million joint venture with the Crown Estate covering six UK development projects is likely to settle partly across fiscal 2026 and 2027.
Lendlease also pointed to A$140 million in expected first-half fiscal 2027 proceeds from the sale of MSG North and a mixed-use commercial land parcel at TRX. Other targeted divestments represent A$1 billion in anticipated cash proceeds across fiscal 2026 and 2027, including the Keyton Retirement Living co-investment, the UK build-to-rent portfolio and capital release from the APPF Retail liquidity redemption process.
Macquarie Group on Thursday emerged as a substantial holder in Lendlease with 34.8 million securities representing 5.04 percent voting power, according to an ASX filing, with more than half of the disclosed position tied to Macquarie Bank’s securities lending activities.
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