By Clyde Mooney
The Board of the Redcape Property Fund (RPF) has been accused of not acting in its shareholder’s best interests as the debt-ridden pub group continues to attract criticism.
It has come to light that opportunities other than the aggressive, profit-driven takeover bid by an American investor group have been eschewed by the key players at Redcape.
Brisbane-based real estate developer Marquette Properties claims to have approached RPF on numerous occasions, but was not given any opportunity for further discussions.
Toby Lewis, founder of Marquette Properties, told TheShout that RPF had not given him the opportunity to meet to explore opportunities or hear his proposal.
”We are confident there are other proposals that are more rewarding to the shareholder than the proposal being supported by the board,” he said.
“The board published an NTA of $0.56 in the half yearly accounts and now supports a sale at $0.08 – this is a huge discount and we struggle to see how the sale of assets doesn’t serve the shareholder better.”
The offer made by the New York investors amounts to an 18-fold dilution of the stock value and purchase of the junior debt held by ANZ and BOSI for 30c in the dollar.
With the latest RPF half-yearly report putting NTA at closer to $0.30, a price of $0.08 for the shareholders has left many in the industry scratching their heads.
The company’s own half-yearly report last December posted a NTA (Net Tangible Assets) value of $0.54 per standard share, up 17 percent from the June report.
The report also stipulated their mandate to sell property assets, as voted by the major shareholders.
Last week the RPF board announced its endorsement of the offer made by the hedge fund conglomerate fronted by American banking giant Goldman Sachs, footnoted by the seemingly optimistic ‘in the absence of a superior proposal’.
Despite a serious offer by the Laundy Hotel Group (LHG) for around twenty of the premises, no other discussions appear to be being considered.