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The founder and CIO of Magnolia Equities III Pty Ltd has responded to the ratification of the Peters Proposal by shareholders of The Agency Group, accusing the company’s board of “scrambling the eggs”.
Mitchell Atkins has noted The Agency’s announcement that resolutions to approve the Peters Proposal “were purportedly passed” at the meeting.
REB reported on Monday, 4 January 2020, that all resolutions put before shareholders of The Agency group were passed on a poll.
Mr Atkins also iterated that it “appears that AU1 (The Agency) is proceeding to issue securities in accordance with that purported approval”.
An ex-director of The Agency himself, the Magnolia founder said the passing of resolutions and issuance of securities “all occurs against the background of continuing Takeovers Panel consideration of two issues – whether sufficient and accurate information [was] given to AU1 shareholders in the Nexia reports and response and the validity and effect on the voting on those resolutions of the voting of the almost 50 per cent of shares held by shareholders who have personally guaranteed the AU1 debt to Macquarie”.
In a response to Magnolia’s independent third-party review of the initial independent report first compiled to assess the Peters Proposal, Nexia had addressed each point from the third-party review, finding there was no need to replace the original report.
From Mr Atkins’ perspective, “until those issues are resolved there are real questions whether the Peters Proposal has been adopted validly”.
He argued: “The issue of the relevant securities seems to be a deliberate act to attempt to pre-empt any Panel decision by ‘scrambling the eggs’ and confusing the factual matters before the Panel can make any orders.”
The Takeovers Panel had permitted a vote on the Peters Proposal Resolutions to proceed on or after 30 December 2020, provided Nexia had made a response to the comments of the third party.
The latest comments from Mr Atkins come after The Agency’s company secretary, Stuart Usher, requested for an extension to the voluntary suspension of its securities on the morning of 5 January, to last until 6 January 2021, after the initial request was filed on 31 December 2020.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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