Perpetual to pay $5m in litigation costs
Perpetual Investment Management (PIML) will need to pay $5 million to cover Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson (WHSP) litigation costs, as a result of a decision made by the Federal Court of Australia last month which dismissed the firm’s claim that Brickworks had engaged in oppressive conduct including a cross-shareholding structure with WHSP.
Additionally, PIML said it decided not to appeal against the judgement.
According to the PIML board’s statement, announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the company’s legal costs were progressively recharged to relevant funds and the amount charged to the date of judgement was $6 million with no further costs to follow.
The combined funds under management in the impacted funds were just over $8 billion.
Also, the Perpetual costs would impact its net profit after tax (NPAT) in FY18, as a one off non-recurring item and would be expected to stand at $3.5 million.
Perpetual’s chief executive and managing director, Geoff Lloyd, said: “At every step we acted in the best interest of our unitholders, and this continues with our board’s decision to align client interests and Perpetual interests by sharing the costs of litigation and absorbing all of the Brickworks and Soul Pattinson costs.”
AUTHOR
Oksana Patron
Recommended for you
Volatility in US markets means currency is becoming a critical decision factor in Australian investors’ ETF selection this year.
Clime Investment Management is overhauling the selection process for its APLs, with managing director Michael Baragwanath describing the threat of a product failure affecting clients as “pure nightmare fuel”.
Global X will expand its ETF range of exchange-traded funds next month with a low-cost Australian equity product as it chases ambitions of becoming a top issuer of ETFs in Australia.
Flows into Australasian sustainable funds have moved back into outflow territory in the second quarter of 2025 driven by US$400 million in redemptions from passive funds.
