In the statement, issued early this morning, it was spelled out that Lend Lease has agreed to "non-binding commercial terms," which will pave the way for "ongoing negotiations and due diligence." The statement also made it clear that the talks did not revolve around other Lend Lease operating components, including Commercial Credit, Holliday Fenoglio Fowler or Housing & Community Investing.

It was revealed months ago that Sydney, Australia-based Lend Lease Corp. was taking a serious look at its US operations, and rumors began to spin that a whole or partial selloff of stateside assets might be in the offing. Early in the process, GlobeSt.com had learned that Holliday employees themselves were seriously mulling over a possible takeover short of any better offer landing on the table.

It is unclear at this point whether a deal with Morgan Stanley will solve all of Sydney's concerns with the performance of its operations.