Kooralbyn Resort sale denied
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2011/02/23/293955_gold-coast-business.html
Capital's Premium Income Fund has denied a sale of the Kooralbyn Resort was imminent, despite a protracted due diligence still being conducted by at least one interested party.
The golfing resort, located on the outskirts of Beaudesert, has been closed for almost three years following the fallout from the collapse of Gold Coast funds manager Octaviar (then known as MFS) in 2008.
Wellington Capital chairman Jenny Hutson, who now controls the property through Wellington's takeover of the former MFS fund, quashed local media reports that a sale agreement had been reached.
''We've been in due diligence with a party for four months,'' Ms Hutson said.
''That remains the current position.''
The party was revealed last year to be a consortium headed by coal industry executive and Eestech Australia director Murray Bailey.
Ms Hutson said there were two other ''interested parties' in the frame.
''There has been good interest but not much more than that.''
Kooralbyn Resort was controlled by former New Zealand businessman Ray Schofield and Ron Lane through company Kooralbyn International Hotels, which was placed into liquidation in July 2008.
The property, which has fallen into disrepair, is understood to owe the Premium Income Fund, the sole secured creditor, about $60 million, with the Bailey-led offer said to be around $25 million
The resort has its own airstrip and comprises a 100-room hotel, 36-room golf lodge, golf course, tennis centre, polo fields and equestrian centre.
Meanwhile, a $113 million takeover bid for the Premium Income Fund has been extended until June 7.
The extension by ALF PIF Finance, a company backed by the family of banned company director Jim Byrnes, will stretch the opportunistic bid into a year-long affair - or 364 days, which is the maximum period at law for a takeover offer.
The bid continues to stir little interest from existing unitholders in the fund.
ALF PIF Finance has received acceptances for about 2.1 million units, or 0.28 per cent of the Premium Income Fund's 755 million units.
This has been virtually unchanged for the past few months.
Under the terms of the bid, ALF PIF Finance is offering PIF unitholders 0.1 redeemable preference shares in ALF PIF Finance and 20 per cent of its ordinary shares for each unit they own in the fund.
Ms Hutson this week stood by her rejection of the offer, saying unitholders effectively would give away 80 per cent of any upside in the fund's value above 15c a unit if they accepted the bid.
''The shares offered are in a company with no trading history and less than $2000 in assets,'' she said.
The most recent valuation for the Premium Income Fund is $265 million.
The fund's units, which trade on the National Stock Exchange, last sold for 6.7c giving the fund a market capitalisation of just over $50 million.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2011/02/23/293955_gold-coast-business.html
Capital's Premium Income Fund has denied a sale of the Kooralbyn Resort was imminent, despite a protracted due diligence still being conducted by at least one interested party.
The golfing resort, located on the outskirts of Beaudesert, has been closed for almost three years following the fallout from the collapse of Gold Coast funds manager Octaviar (then known as MFS) in 2008.
Wellington Capital chairman Jenny Hutson, who now controls the property through Wellington's takeover of the former MFS fund, quashed local media reports that a sale agreement had been reached.
''We've been in due diligence with a party for four months,'' Ms Hutson said.
''That remains the current position.''
The party was revealed last year to be a consortium headed by coal industry executive and Eestech Australia director Murray Bailey.
Ms Hutson said there were two other ''interested parties' in the frame.
''There has been good interest but not much more than that.''
Kooralbyn Resort was controlled by former New Zealand businessman Ray Schofield and Ron Lane through company Kooralbyn International Hotels, which was placed into liquidation in July 2008.
The property, which has fallen into disrepair, is understood to owe the Premium Income Fund, the sole secured creditor, about $60 million, with the Bailey-led offer said to be around $25 million
The resort has its own airstrip and comprises a 100-room hotel, 36-room golf lodge, golf course, tennis centre, polo fields and equestrian centre.
Meanwhile, a $113 million takeover bid for the Premium Income Fund has been extended until June 7.
The extension by ALF PIF Finance, a company backed by the family of banned company director Jim Byrnes, will stretch the opportunistic bid into a year-long affair - or 364 days, which is the maximum period at law for a takeover offer.
The bid continues to stir little interest from existing unitholders in the fund.
ALF PIF Finance has received acceptances for about 2.1 million units, or 0.28 per cent of the Premium Income Fund's 755 million units.
This has been virtually unchanged for the past few months.
Under the terms of the bid, ALF PIF Finance is offering PIF unitholders 0.1 redeemable preference shares in ALF PIF Finance and 20 per cent of its ordinary shares for each unit they own in the fund.
Ms Hutson this week stood by her rejection of the offer, saying unitholders effectively would give away 80 per cent of any upside in the fund's value above 15c a unit if they accepted the bid.
''The shares offered are in a company with no trading history and less than $2000 in assets,'' she said.
The most recent valuation for the Premium Income Fund is $265 million.
The fund's units, which trade on the National Stock Exchange, last sold for 6.7c giving the fund a market capitalisation of just over $50 million.