Century fails to gain control of Opus 21

Century Funds Management has failed to replace Opus Capital as manager of the troubled Opus 21 property fund, after an insufficient number of unitholders voted on the matter.

At the meeting of Opus 21 unitholders held yesterday, Century gained over 80 per cent of total votes cast to unseat Opus Capital as manager of the $240 million fund, but only around 40 per cent of the register voted.

Fifty per cent of the total number of stakeholders voting in favour of the proposal was needed to effect a manager change.

Last month, Century held a presentation before the fund’s unitholders, proposing itself as the new responsible entity for Opus 21.

During the presentation, the fund manager outlined what it claimed were several “questionable transactions to be investigated” and pointed to Opus Capital’s current battle to retain its financial services licence involving an appeal by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) against a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

Century also focused on the fund’s gearing rate of 77 per cent and $35 million in either loans related to Opus trusts or valuation losses pursuant to related party tenants.

Dealer group Professional Investment Services (PIS) had come out in support of Century’s bid for Opus 21 last month, commissioning a report examining the proposed takeover. PIS has clients who are invested in the fund — and the fund was also on the dealer group’s Approved Product List for a time.

Following the announcement of the voting results yesterday, Century chairman John McBain said the fund manager “accepts the absolute determination of the voting process and we genuinely wish unitholders our best wishes for the future under the continued management regime”.

Opus Capital announced it would reduce its standard fees, halve the $3 million acquisition fee proposed in their Opus 21 trust recapitalisation proposal and waive year-one fund management fees.