He’s the king of Cottesloe and has been building a 4000sqm spread of properties with spectacular views across the Sea View golf course to the Indian Ocean.
He’s also the landlord of the upgraded Cottesloe Mews shopping centre and has land holdings spread through Cottesloe, Swanbourne, Claremont, Nedlands and Fremantle. Kerry Harmanis was a substantial and regular land investor long before he became the stuff of deal-making legend by selling his nickel miner Jubilee Mines to Xstrata in late 2007.
The $3.1 billion deal was bedded down as the sharemarket was trading around record highs despite signs we were heading into the global financial crisis. He is now one of the rich western suburbs set whose name gets thrown around when he puts some of his fortune in mining hopefuls, such as Talisman Mining and unlisted gold producer Kin Mining.
He recently gave crucial support to the Kin board members when they were facing an ousting attempt led by former Murchison Metals boss Paul Kopejtka.
“If they wish to gain control of these assets, they should pay a significant premium for them, not acquire them in the manner in which they now seek,” he wrote. “As someone who has had direct experience of what it takes to build a successful mining company . . . I have every confidence in the future of the company — and in the ability of the existing board to unlock its inherent value.”
Not surprisingly with opposition like this, the tilt failed.
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