Ker Conway spent 11 years as a director of the company, the last three as chairman. Non-executive director David Crawford was appointed interim chairman while the process of recruiting new directors, which commenced earlier this year, is complete.

The announcement was concurrent with the company's announcement that it significantly revised its business strategy following a year-long review and now plans to exit from its US real estate investments, including Holiday Fenoglio Fowler, and some European-based investment operations. The review determined a number of issues including too many disconnected businesses in the US that created complexity and dispersed management focus; virtually no synergies achievable between the US Real Estate Investments businesses and other parts of Lend Lease and an unacceptably poor outlook for US REI for the next few years at least.

"We firmly believed in the opportunity to globalize Lend Lease's two businesses – real estate solutions and real estate investment management," said Ker Conway. "Whilst the real estate solutions business is in an extremely strong position because of that strategy, we have fallen well short of our objectives for real estate investments."