Delfin (Australian company)

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Delfin
FormerlyDevelopment Finance Company
Company type Subsidiary
ASX:  DEL
Industry Real estate development
Founded1953
FounderSir John Hedley Douglas Marks
Defunct2011
FateIntegrated into Lendlease
Headquarters Sydney, Australia
Key people
Allan McDonald (Chairman) [1]
Chris Banks (CEO) [2]
Website www.delfin.com.au

Delfin, formerly the Development Finance Company was an Australian business carrying out residential developments. In the 1990s, the company was acknowledged to be the developer of the "best Real Estate project in the world" by International Real Estate Federation [3] and was "widely recognised for innovation in developing quality new urban communities". [4] It initiated a number of major urban developments across Australia before it was acquired by Lendlease in 2001. [5]

Contents

History

The company was established as the Development Finance Company by John Marks in 1953. DFC became a public company in 1957 and was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 1959. The purpose of DFC was to serve as an "investment banking service" that would "assist Australia’s industrial development by providing long-term finance and permanent capital to Australian companies." [6]

DFC entered the real estate development market in 1969. Via an indenture signed by its subsidiary, Delfin Management Services Pty Ltd and the Government of South Australia, Delfin built a real estate development called West Lakes. West Lakes is in the upper estuary of the Port River, known as the Upper Port Reach, to the north-west of the Adelaide central business district. [7] [8] The success of the project was largely driven by Brian Martin, who was appointed managing director of the business in 1975. [2] This huge development, involving 6,000 houses accommodating 20,000 people, [3] was awarded the inaugural Prix D'Excellence award by FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation, in 1992. [9] [10] [11] The Federation described this project by Delfin as the "best Real Estate project in the world". [3] At this time, the company was "widely recognised for innovation in developing quality new urban communities". [4]

In 1983, DFC was acquired by the ANZ Bank. [7] [12] ANZ Bank sold the company, now known as Delfin Property Group, to a group of 11 institutional investors in March 1992. [13] The company was relisted on the Australian Securities Exchange in a low-key float later in 1992. [14] After Martin stood down as managing director in 1995, Chris Banks was appointed to the post. [2] Under Banks' leadership the company committed to the A$850 million Mawson Lakes project. [5] Meanwhile, the company repeated its success when the Golden Grove development, involving 3,000 houses accommodating 10,000 people, was the winner of the Prix d'Excellence for the most outstanding international residential development for 1998. [15]

Delfin Property Group was acquired by Lendlease for $172 million in 2001. Upon acquisition, Delfin Property Group was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange and became Delfin Lend Lease. [16] [17] The company continued to make an impact in the 21st century and, in 2007, remained Australia's largest developer of master-planned communities, with 21 projects across Australia. [18] The company won the national award for best master-planned development from the Urban Development Institute of Australia for the Varsity Lakes development, involving 3,000 houses accommodating 8,000 people, in 2011. [19] Lendlease ceased using the Delfin brand and the real estate development business was fully integrated into Lendlease in around 2011. [20]

Urban developments

DFC initiated a number of major urban developments across Australia in the latter half of the 20th century, and into the 21st century. These included:

Awards

Awards won by the company include:

Legacy

Delfin Island, which is named after the developer, was officially opened by the Premier of South Australia, Don Dunstan, on 17 March 1978. [24] The island, which was part of a mosquito-ridden swamp before being developed by the company, is now a prestigious residential community. [25]

References

  1. ↑ "Directors, Management and Employees" (PDF). Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "West Lakes underpins reputation of former DFC arm". Financial Review. 27 June 1996. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 "Local History Factsheet: A brief history of West Lakes" (PDF). City of Charles Sturt. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Delfin: West Lakes and beyond : a developer's diary / Brian Martin AO". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Bid target Delfin suspends shares". Financial Review. 27 April 2001. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  6. ↑ Bain, Jim (2012). Marks, Sir John Hedley Douglas (1916–1982). Australian National University. Retrieved 26 July 2019. first published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 18, (MUP), 2012
  7. 1 2 3 Martin, Brian (2013), Delfin : West Lakes and beyond : a developer's diary, Brian Martin, pp. 24–27 & 30–31, retrieved 21 July 2019
  8. ↑ "West Lakes Development Act, 1969" (PDF). Government of South Australia. 20 November 1969. pp. 228 & 234. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  9. 1 2 "The History of West Lakes". City of Charles Sturt. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  10. ↑ "West Lakes voted "World's Best"". Hills Messenger. 3 June 1992. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  11. ↑ "Farewell to West Lakes and East End developer Max Liberman AO". Adelaide Advertiser. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  12. ↑ ANZ steps in with $91m bid for DFC Canberra Times 20 August 1983 page 19
  13. ↑ "ANZ sells Delfin Property Group" . Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  14. 1 2 "Delfin keeps its house in order". Australian Financial Review. 17 June 1993. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 "S.A. housing project wins world award". Australian Financial Review . 11 May 1998. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  16. ↑ Proposal for Lend Lease to acquire Delfin Lendlease 30 April 2001
  17. ↑ Lend Lease Welcomes Delfin Shareholder's Thumbs Up Lendlease 30 July 2001
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Delfin Lend Lease wins accolade". Green Street News. 20 March 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  19. 1 2 "UDIA Awards". Urban Development Institute of Australia. 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  20. ↑ "Lend Lease Communities (Blakeview) Pty Ltd – Notification – N95630". Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  21. ↑ Ryan, Charmaine (16 November 1998). "Developers Revive the MFP Dream". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  22. ↑ "Delfin Lend Lease Blakeview Pty Ltd - Notification - N94550". Australian Competition & Consumer Commission . Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  23. ↑ "Jennings struggles to meet deadline". Australian Financial Review. 24 July 1995. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  24. ↑ "Taking A Fresh Look At Freshwater Lake" (PDF). City of Charles Sturt. p. 17. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  25. ↑ "More than 10 properties have hit the market on West Lakes's prestigious Delfin Island". The Advertiser. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2025.

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