Delfin began as the Development Finance Company Ltd established by John Marks in 1953. DFC became a public company in 1957 and was listed on the stock 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." The abbreviation “DelFin” was used in the names of some of DFC’s subsidiary companies. DFC entered the real estate development market in 1969 via a indenture signed by its subsidiary, Delfin Management Services Pty Ltd and the Government of South Australia to built a real estate development to be called “West Lakes” in the upper estuary of the Port River to the north-west of the Adelaide city centre. In 1983, DFC was acquired by ANZ Bank. After separating from ANZ, Delfin Property Group was acquired by Lend Lease Corporation in 2001 for $172 million. Upon acquisition, Delfin Property Group was de-listed and became Delfin Lend Lease, a subsidiary company of Lend Lease Corporation. As part of corporate restructures in 2009, it was announced that previously separate business units would be merged into an entity known as 'one Lend Lease'. While the announcement of 'one Lend Lease' was based on business structural changes, each business unit retained the individual branding entities. It is thought this re-structure announcement, and the resultant automatic role demotions of the business unit CEOs, resulted in the resignation of Delfin Lend Lease's then CEO David Keir. On 17 February 2011, Lend Lease Corporation announced a rationalisation of its brands in order in increase recognition of the Lend Lease name. Some of the group's brands were immediately renamed, however as Lend Lease's primary consumer business, Delfin did not. On 9 September 2011, Delfin Lend Lease officially transitioned to Lend Lease Communities, or Lend Lease for short.
Operations
The company operates across Australia. In all states, Lend Lease's Communities Business develops large, master-planned communities. The company runs additional businesses in certain markets. This includes built form, town centres, construction and finance, depending on the size and location of each community. Over its 50-year history, Lend Lease Communities has developed a number of communities throughout Australia with a high level of backlog land. These communities include: New South Wales
