Sunland Group

Sunland Group Limited (ASX: SDG) is an Australian development company headquartered in South East Queensland, Australia. The company was founded in 1983 by Iranian Australian businessmen Soheil Abedian and Foad Fathi.[1]

Sunland Group Limited
TypePublic company
ASX: SDG
IndustryProperty development
Founded1983
FoundersSoheil Abedian and Foad Fathi
Headquarters
Brisbane
,
Australia
Key people
Sahba Abedian, Managing director
WebsiteSunland Group Limited

Developments

Sunland has built Palazzo Versace, a five-star hotel on the Gold Coast, which opened in September 2000, and Q1 in Surfers Paradise, which had been the world's tallest residential tower from its opening in November 2005 until April 2011.[2] Other developments include residential high-rises Yve (2005) and Balancea (2008), both situated in Melbourne, and the 41-storey Abian tower near the City Botanic Gardens in Brisbane, which was completed in 2017.

The Grace on Coronation, a three-tower project at the site of the former ABC studios at Toowong, was proposed in 2015.[2]

In 2021 the company began liquidating its assets in order to return funds to shareholders. Some of its assets were purchased by the Arium Group at auction, a company founded in December 2020 in which Sunland Managing Director Sahba Abedian had a major interest with 51 million shares and founder Soheil Abedian had an indirect interest with 9 million shares. In response to legal implications of selling to a related party it was decided that Sunland shareholders would need to approve the transfer.[3]

In 2009, Australian businessmen Matthew Joyce and Marcus Lee, employees of Dubai-based development company Nakheel, were accused of fraud by Sunland over a 2007 property deal. Sunland alleged Joyce, who was managing director of a Nakheel subsidiary, and Lee had conspired to trick the company into paying property developer Angus Reed $14 million before it could purchase a prime plot on the Dubai Waterfront. The case was heard in courts in both Dubai and Victoria.[4]

In June 2012, Sunland's case was dismissed in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The judge said that Sunland had failed to make proper disclosures.[5][6] In May 2013, Joyce and Reed were found guilty of defrauding Sunland by a Dubai court.[7] This decision was overturned in November 2013, and Joyce, Lee and Reed were acquitted.[8][9] Two months earlier, the Victorian Supreme Court judged that Sunland had run the case "for ulterior motive or in wilful disregard of the facts or clearly established law".[10] The legal battle ended in December 2013, when Sunland was ordered to pay $6.7 million in legal fees to Joyce and Reed.[11]

During the case Soheil Abedian personally donated $12,500 to the Liberal National Party shortly after Stuart Robert gave a speech to the Australian Parliament written by the companies lobbyist, and in addition over 2014 and 2015 Abedian and the Sunland Group donated at least $25,000 to the LNP, which caused the Australian Labor Party to describe it as a "cash for comment" deal, although Sunland denied receiving any benefit from its donations. A news report on the donation noted Abedian had also donated to the Labor Party in the past.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Sunland Group Annual Report 2008" (PDF). p. 3. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  2. Daryl Passmore (9 September 2014). "Sunland property group founder Soheil Abedian and his family return to Queensland's Top 150 Rich List, only in the Sunday Mail". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  3. John McCarthy (28 January 2021). "Abedian-linked company buys Greenmount from Sunland". INQueensland. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  4. "Marcus Lee, acquitted of fraud charges over Sunland property deal, given all-clear to leave Dubai". ABC News. 18 January 2014. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  5. Madeleine Heffernan (9 June 2012). "Dubai cloud darkens Sunland". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  6. Courtney Trenwith (11 September 2013). "Developer loses appeal in $14m Dubai property fraud case". ArabianBusiness.com. Arabian Business Publishing. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  7. Sarah Farnsworth (6 September 2013). "Sunland Group loses bid to pursue damages over controversial Dubai property deal". ABC News. Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  8. "Australian execs win Dubai court fraud case appeal". Arabian Business. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  9. "Australian man Matthew Joyce convicted in Dubai over property deal calls on Sunland to 'undo monstrous injustice'". ABC News. 17 October 2013. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  10. Wendy Carlisle (14 October 2013). "Sunland Group profits halved after failed legal bid against Dubai duo Matthew Joyce and Angus Reed". ABC News. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  11. Jenny Rogers (6 December 2013). "Sunland ordered to pay the $6.7 million legal fees of Matthew Joyce and Angus Reed after botched Dubai deal". The Gold Coast Bulletin. News Lmtd. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  12. Adam Gartrell and Amy Remeikis (28 September 2016). "Property developer donated to LNP after controversial Stuart Robert speech". The Sydney Morning Herald. News Lmtd. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
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