Goodman Group

Greg Goodman moved to Australia from New Zealand in late 1985 and in 1989 formed a substantial private unit trust made up mainly of industrial properties; this trust was the starting point of what later became Goodman Group.⁠[1][1]

In July 1995 the trust listed on the Australian Stock Exchange as Goodman Hardie Industrial Property Trust, holding eight properties with total assets of about A$73.2 million at the time.⁠[1]

In 2000 the trust merged with Macquarie Industrial Trust, was renamed Macquarie Goodman Industrial Trust (MGI), and grew into what was then the largest industrial property trust on the Australian Stock Exchange. Greg Goodman later led the merger of Macquarie Industrial Trust and Macquarie Goodman Management Limited to form Macquarie Goodman Group. The ASX records February 2, 2005, as the listing date of the GMG securities.⁠[1][1][1][2]

On December 23, 2005, the group acquired all of the issued share capital of UK property asset manager Arlington Securities, and on June 1, 2006, all of the issued share capital of property developer Eurinpro International; on November 14, 2006, it bought three European properties held by Akeler together with Akeler’s UK property ownership and funds management business for A$106.6 million. These three acquisitions formed its European business platform.⁠[3][3][3][3][1]

On December 20, 2006, the group launched the Goodman European Logistics Fund (GELF, formerly the Arlington European Logistics Fund), which at launch owned 12 logistics properties in continental Europe’s main logistics markets; the group initially held 40%, reduced its stake to 27% during that financial year, and provides funds management, property management, and other services to the fund.⁠[3][3][3][3]

On May 17, 2007, the group announced that, through Macquarie Goodman Asia Limited, its joint venture with Macquarie Bank, it had acquired a 53% interest in the Japanese logistics property company Japan Representative (J-REP), at an investment cost to Goodman of A$147.6 million; J-REP provided logistics property leasing, development, and funds management and was listed on the Mothers index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.⁠[3][3][3][3]

On July 2, 2007, the group launched the new Goodman brand, bringing all of its global businesses under one name, and its management company Macquarie Goodman Management Limited was renamed Goodman International Limited on the same day. At the time the group employed more than 1,000 people in over 20 countries across Asia Pacific and Europe.⁠[3][3][3][3][3]

On October 28, 2008, amid turmoil in global financial markets, the group announced four initiatives: a A$755 million fully underwritten equity raising (comprising a A$230 million institutional placement and a A$525 million entitlement offer, both at A$0.90 per security), asset sales of about A$500 million, reactivation of the distribution reinvestment plan, and the A$200 million acquisition of Macquarie Bank’s 50% interest in the Macquarie Goodman Asia joint venture (excluding Japan), creating one streamlined pan-Asian platform (excluding Japan).⁠[4][4][4][4][4][4][4]

Greg Goodman said that the market had experienced unprecedented volatility and that the group had to maintain a strong balance sheet with lower gearing.⁠[4][4]

Following securityholder approval at the meeting on November 17, 2008, Goodman International Limited changed its name to Goodman Limited on December 1, 2008; together with Goodman Industrial Trust, the entities continued to be listed on the ASX as Goodman Group under the code GMG.⁠[5][5][5][5]

On June 16, 2009, the group announced that China Investment Corporation had committed A$200 million to the finance facility previously arranged with Macquarie Bank, bringing the final facility size to A$485 million with a nine-month term extendable for a further 15 months; the two sides agreed to work in good faith toward a broader relationship, and CIC’s participation required approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.⁠[6][6][6][6][6][6][6]

On March 29, 2011, all ordinary units in ING Industrial Fund (IIF) were transferred to the trustee of Goodman Trust Australia (GTA) for 53.7975 Australian cents per unit; GTA was an unlisted unit trust set up to acquire IIF and held by a consortium of APG, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, China Investment Corporation, and Goodman Group. On the same day Goodman Funds Management Limited became the responsible entity of IIF.⁠[7][7][7][7][7][7][7]

On August 22, 2012, the group completed an internal restructure adding Goodman Logistics (HK) Limited to the existing Goodman Group stapled security; each stapled security now consists of a CHESS Depositary Interest over an ordinary share in Goodman Logistics (HK) Limited, stapled to an ordinary share in Goodman Limited and a unit in Goodman Industrial Trust.⁠[8][8][8][8][8]

On February 20, 2025, the group completed a fully underwritten pro-rata institutional placement raising about A$4.0 billion through the issue of about 119.4 million new securities (about 6.2% of securities on issue) at A$33.50 each, a 6.9% discount to the February 18 closing price. Greg Goodman said the funds would be used to pursue long-term opportunities, particularly in data centres.⁠[9][9][9][9][9][9][9]

Goodman began planning the Project Mars data centre in Lane Cove, in Sydney’s north, in March 2025. The project was submitted as a state significant development (application SSD-82052708) for the construction and 24-hour operation of a data centre with an overall power consumption of about 90 megawatts, with an estimated development cost of A$443.8 million in the development application. The site was about 20 metres from the nearest homes and close to Lane Cove West Public School; the project drew formal objections from residents, the school community, and Lane Cove Council, and the planning portal received 374 public submissions.⁠[10][11][11][12][13][12][12][10][11]

In its results for the financial year ended June 30, 2025, published on August 21, 2025, the group reported operating profit of A$2,311.2 million, up 13%, operating earnings per security of 118.0 cents, and statutory profit of A$1,666.4 million; the total portfolio was A$85.6 billion, development work in progress (WIP) had an estimated end value of A$12.9 billion across 57 projects, with data centres accounting for 57%, and the global power bank stood at 5.0 GW across 13 major cities.⁠[14][14][14][14][14][14][14]

On December 23, 2025, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) signed an agreement with the group to establish the A$14 billion (€8 billion), 50/50 Goodman European Data Centre Development Partnership, with an initial total capital commitment of A$3.9 billion to develop four data centre projects in Paris (PAR01, PAR02), Frankfurt (FRA02), and Amsterdam (AMS01), totaling 435 MW of primary power and 282 MW of IT load. The two have partnered since 2009, and the transaction was to settle in phases by March 2026.⁠[15][15][15][15][15][15]

For the half year ended December 31, 2025, the group reported operating profit of A$1,203.5 million, operating earnings per security of 58.5 cents, and statutory profit of A$824.7 million; the total portfolio was A$87.4 billion, work in progress was A$14.4 billion across 51 projects with data centres making up 73%, and the global power bank had grown to 6.0 GW across 16 major cities.⁠[16][16][16][16][16][16]

On August 18, 2026, the group announced a 20-year lease with a global hyperscale customer for the first 50 MW phase of its Tsukuba Tech Central data centre campus in Greater Tokyo. The campus is planned at 1 GW, and the 45-hectare site was acquired in 2022; the group will develop, own, fit out, and operate the facility, the first phase is expected to be ready for service in early 2028, and power is secured from TEPCO.⁠[17][17][17][17][17]

In its results for the financial year ended June 30, 2026, published on August 20, 2026, the group reported operating profit of A$2,674.5 million, up 15.7%; operating earnings per security of 129.9 cents, up 10.1%; statutory profit of A$2,778.7 million; net tangible assets of A$11.79 per security and full-year distributions of 30.0 cents per security; and gearing of 6.5% (19.5% on a look-through basis). The group set a target of 9% growth in operating earnings per security for FY27.⁠[18][18][18][18][18][18][18]

As of June 30, 2026, the total portfolio (including the partnerships) was A$89.0 billion with occupancy of 95.6%; work in progress had grown to A$19.7 billion across 50 projects in 12 countries, with data centres making up 78% and about 0.5 GW of data centre projects under construction; the global power bank had increased to 6.4 GW, of which 3.6 GW was secured, across 16 major cities; external assets under management were A$75.4 billion, and the number of partnerships had risen to 26. Development earnings were the largest contributor to profit at A$1,792.2 million.⁠[18][18][18][18][18][18][18][18][18][18][18]

Greg Goodman said the group had been active in data centres since 2005 and had deliberately deepened its exposure to the sector over the past five years, adding that demand in both logistics and data centres was structural and that scarcity of power and land remained the key constraint on AI and cloud growth.⁠[18][18][18][18][18]

On Monday, September 28, 2026, Goodman’s head of planning, Guy Smith, wrote to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure formally withdrawing the development application for Project Mars. The letter said that the policy and regulatory environment for large-scale data centre development had evolved significantly since planning began, and that, having considered these changes, the feedback received through the planning process (including the views of the local community), and emerging federal and state policy, Goodman would not progress the application. As of October 2026, the project’s status on the planning portal is “Withdrawn.”⁠[10][10][10][10][10][11]

The week before the withdrawal, Goodman representatives faced questions at a federal Senate inquiry into AI and data centres, conceded that the project had failed to win a “social licence,” and said the company would decide by the end of 2026 whether to proceed and that some form of design change might occur. Before the withdrawal, a consultation paper released by the federal government raised the possibility of a mandatory minimum distance between data centres and homes and schools.⁠[10][13][10][10]

Lane Cove Council deputy mayor Rochelle Flood called the withdrawal a “massive community win,” and Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson, who had asked Goodman to withdraw the plan, also called it “a major win” for the local community. On the Tuesday morning after the announcement, the company’s shares fell as much as 2.1% in Sydney. As of October 2026, Goodman is building a separate 90 MW data centre in an industrial area of Artarmon, adjacent to Lane Cove.⁠[10][10][10][10][12][10]

The group’s property portfolio includes logistics and distribution centres, warehouses, light industrial properties, multi-storey industrial buildings, business parks, and data centres, with operations across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the Americas; it is a top-20 entity on the ASX by market capitalisation and describes itself as the largest property group on the ASX and one of the largest listed specialist investment managers of industrial property globally.⁠[18][18][18][18][18]

As of October 2026, founder Gregory Goodman is Group Chief Executive Officer, responsible for overall operations and strategy, and Stephen Johns is Independent Chairman. The group has more than 1,000 employees across 27 offices, and its registered office is in Rosebery, Sydney. In FY26 the group contributed A$21 million to community organisations through the Goodman Foundation and staff contributions.⁠[19][19][2][2][19][2][18]

Goodman Group: Official website: https://www.goodman.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[18]