Boards caught out by Opes Prime collapse

The appointment of administrators and receivers to Opes Prime is continuing to cause disruptions to the market as numerous publicly-listed companies discover that the ownership of blocks of shares is in dispute.

Two publicly-listed companies — Aequs and Solagran — today notified the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that the Opes Prime debacle had caused confusion as to the ownership of shares.

Aequs said its directors had become aware of two parcels of securities that had been pledged as security through accounts with Opes Prime amounting to 11.2 per cent of Aequs’ issued capital.

In a statement issued on the ASX, Aequs said: “Given the tightly-held nature of the Aequs share register and staff/contractor participation in the equity of the Aequs business, the directors of Aequs are keen to see the repatriation of the shares to their original owners or, if required, to an empathetic shareholder, and are working to achieve this desired outcome.”

For its part, Solagran asked for a trading halt on the ASX, declaring it was informed by its substantial shareholder, Solamind, that there was a dispute with the ANZ Banking Group in relation to the ownership of the Solamind holding stemming from the Opes Prime situation.

It said that Solamind had advised the board that it stood by its ownership of the stock and was taking active steps to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

“The directors wish to inform the market that they have been advised that this situation could have triggered the Takeover Provisions of the Corporations Act, and the board is currently taking further legal advice.”