Dakin finishes as CEO on December 31 this year. Photo / supplied
Dakin finishes as CEO on December 31 this year. Photo / supplied
It's the end of an era with John Dakin leaving the successful $4.8 billion NZX-listed landlord Goodman Property Trust at the end of this year and a long-term executive taking over.
The trust said today that after 18 years of heading Goodman, Dakin would step down but would continue onthe board as an executive director.
James Spence, 38, Goodman's investment management director, will be the chief executive from January 1 next year.
Spence is a long-term executive, having worked for Goodman for 16 years in corporate, property and funds management here and in Europe.
He has spent the last five years here leading the property services team, which looks after the tenants Goodman calls customers.
"I've been with Goodman for a long time. I went to Europe with them in 2011. I spent six years based in Brussels but did a lot of work in Germany, France and Spain," Spence said.
The New Zealand trust's manager is a subsidiary of the ASX-listed Goodman Group, which is a A$68.7b specialist global manager of warehouse and logistics real estate.
James Spence of Goodman, takes over in January next year. Photo / Goodman
"Goodman Group had me there in funds management but I also headed the capital transactions team for the group in Europe, selling large portfolios of assets between 2014 and 2016," Spence said.
That was when the business was repositioning for growth.
Spence, originally from Orewa, went to Auckland University and first worked for property business DTZ.
He joined Goodman aged 22.
He has been leading investment decision-making for the trust, liaising with investors and analysts about the business so is already well-known to the capital markets in New Zealand.
He lives on the North Shore.
The trust's manager employs 65 staff and owns Highbrook in East Tamaki, the Roma Road Estate in Mt Roskill and land at Villa Maria at Mangere.
Dakin became chief executive in January 2004 "and we had slightly over $200 million of assets. It seems like a long time ago. It was the old Colonial First State Property Trust and Goodman took it over.
"There's no one reason that I'm not continuing on as CEO. The first thing is that I'll be staying with the business. I'm very proud of what we've done to get the trust to the stage that it's at today. It feels like the right time for this change and a natural evolution for business," Dakin said.
"I will also be picking up some additional responsibilities with Goodman Group," he said, emphasising he would stay in New Zealand and not move to Australia. "I'll be looking to continue with the wider Goodman group in my new capacity."
Goodman chairman Keith Smith said Dakin had been an outstanding leader, growing and repositioning the trust to make it a $4.8b business.
Greg Goodman, Goodman Group's global chief executive, said Dakin had created a valuable legacy.
"His business acumen, inclusive management style and industry leadership have all been important contributors to GMT's success over the years. We are pleased he will continue to contribute to Goodman in New Zealand and globally," Goodman said.
Goodman Property Trust is today trading on the NZX around $2.08.
