Support our sponsors:

NZX 50 Index	4611.96	2.40
S&P/ASX 200	5191.20	0.00
Dow Jones Industrials	14839.80	21.00

Twitter

Facebook

RSS

ANZ takes 9% stake in Vital Healthcare, affirms support for subsidiary manager

Thursday 22nd September 2011

Text too small?

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group has taken a 9% stake in Vital Healthcare Property Trust as the property investor’s ANZ-owned manager finds itself at odds with the independent directors to internalise the contract.

ANZ subsidiary AUT Investments paid $31.2 million for 26.1 million units, or 9%, of Vital Healthcare, according to a statement to the NZX. Part of that acquisition came from ANZ subsidiary OnePath New Zealand, which made a substantial disclosure notice saying its stake had reduced to 4.6% from 7.8%.

“ANZ will continue to consider all options for the future of Vital Healthcare Management, the manager of the trust,” ANZ managing director of wealth John Body said in a statement.

OnePath owns the manager of Vital whose negotiations with independent directors Bill Thurston and Graeme Horsley stalled over a $2 million pay gap, though talks have since resumed. OnePath wasn’t willing to accept less than $8 million to sell the management contract, having already slashed $6 million from its starting point.

Unitholders are waiting on an independent report by Grant Samuel & Associates, which will be followed by a special meeting where they will vote on whether to support internalisation or dumping the manager in favour of a proposal put forward by Ascot Property Management to lead the change.

Investors will also have the option to remove the manager at no cost, though the independent directors see little chance of that succeeding as it needs trustee approval, and is unlikely to get it.

Vital lifted annual earnings 50% to $18.2 million on fatter rental income, having completed a programme of buying up healthcare property across the Tasman.

The units rose 1.8% to $1.15 in trading today, and have gained 6.6% this year.

(BusinessDesk)

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name:
Your email:	Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.