Charter Hall Office Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) unit holders have rejected an outside proposal to change the responsible entity of the listed property security.
At an extraordinary general meeting yesterday, investors turned down a resolution by Orange Capital to remove Charter Hall's Office Management Limited (CHOML) unit as the REIT's responsible entity and replace it with Moss Capital Funds Management.
A report by Link Market Services said 67.60 per cent of the unit-holder register voted to keep Charter Hall, and 32.09 per cent voted against retaining it.
Charter Hall Group chairman Kerry Roxburgh welcomed the decision by investors to retain CHOML's management of the REIT, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange as CQO.
"Since taking on the management in March 2010, Charter Hall has stabilised and added value to the CQO portfolio, significantly reducing its gearing, extending lease terms and improving both earnings and distributions per unit," Roxburgh said.
He said Charter Hall recognised more work needed to be done and the company remained committed to actively managing the trust in the best interest of unit holders.
In documents presented at the meeting, Moss Capital said there was a need for a change to the REIT's responsible entity as Charter Hall had poor corporate governance and conflicts of interest.
Orange Capital, which has invested in CQO, called the meeting due to factors including the gap between the market price of CQO units and the net asset value per unit.
