Crosby Homes, the property developer behind Birmingham's Symphony Court development, has been sold for £261 million.
Parent company Berkeley has agreed to offload its Midlandsbased subsidiary to Australian firm Lend Lease, which built the Touchwood Court shopping centre in Solihull.
Crosby, which spun off from Berkeley in an incentivised management buy out in 2003, has built a reputation in the urban regeneration sphere.
The company, which has offices in Edgbaston, numbers the Royal Arch development in the Mailbox and the Orion Building, a collaboration with fashion designer John Rocha in Navigation Street, among its Midland projects.
The deal includes a £10 million payment to the Crosby management team after they picked up a stake in the business two years ago.
The team, led by chief executive Geoff Hutchinson, will stay on with the new owners.
Lend Lease, which is involved in developing the Millennium Dome site and has built shopping centres including Touchwood Court in Solihull, will boost its presence in the Midlands and the North of England through the acquisition.
The Sydney-based group wants to cash in on the Government's drive to fill the UK housing shortfall with large urban regeneration projects.
Crosby Homes is best-known for developing sites such as Clarence Dock in Leeds, which features a hotel, casino and offices as well as apartments. It is about half-way through Manchester's Green Quarter development, which will feature seven residential blocks, offices and a hotel.
Crosby switched its focus from traditional housebuilding to city centre sites in 2002, resulting in staff numbers being cut by more than 50 per cent to 120.
Berkeley will receive £235.7 million for Crosby. It will also be repaid the £15 million it provided Crosby in the last three years.
