BAE Systems Australia has agreed to sell its inactive Williamstown shipyard near Melbourne to Australian property funds manager EMKC³, which is jointly owned by a Hong Kong-based investment business.
"EMKC³ is the contracted purchaser of the BAE Williamstown site and has been working with key stakeholders on a range of future uses for the site," senior development manager Felicity Richardson told Australian Defence Magazine in October.
BAE Systems Australia confirmed the sale process was underway but declined further comment until it concludes.
EMKC³ listed the EMKC Group and 26CUBED as its joint owners.
The EMKC Group has described itself as an investment business and family office headquartered in Hong Kong. The size of its stake in EMKC3 is not known, including whether it holds a majority interest.
According to Australian Defence Magazine, the foreign ownership component could bring Treasury's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) into the process.
A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment and cited restrictions under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975. The Herald Sun reported that it understood the transaction would not go to the FIRB.
Richardson told the newspaper that the buyers were "a bunch of Australian investors".
Richardson said the plans include "a waterfront promenade, green space, residential opportunities and retail alongside some light industry."
Provisions added to the Planning and Environment Act 1987 in 2005 state that their purpose is, "to ensure that the Williamstown Shipyard Site continues to be used for industrial and marine engineering purposes and ancillary purposes."
Any strategy plan for the site, and any amendment to it, must be approved by both Houses of the Victorian Parliament. The sale also involves federal government land ownership alongside state planning jurisdiction.
Opposition defence spokesman Senator James Paterson said he hoped Defence Minister Richard Marles was, "giving careful thought to these questions."
Michael Shoebridge, director of Strategic Analysis Australia, said the government was, "selling probably one of the best sites in the country for a shipyard to a developer instead of reinvesting and making it a modern capable shipyard."
Australian Defence Magazine understands the agreed price is considerably below the AU$200 million (US$140 million) estimate attached to the site when it was marketed in 2024.
The site covers around 16.81 hectares and overlooks the entrance to the Port of Melbourne.
Williamstown is Victoria's last shipyard capable of building and maintaining large naval vessels. It built all 10 Anzac-class frigates for Australia and New Zealand, and it also built the superstructures and performed the internal fitout for the landing helicopter docks HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide.
The yard’s final work was the construction of hull blocks for the Hobart-class air warfare destroyers, which ended in 2016. Much of its workforce was laid off afterwards.
BAE Systems acquired the yard through its 2008 purchase of Tenix.