With 89.8 per cent voting in favour, investors “strongly supported the proposal” said Mark Pratt, AUI’s head of property, mortgage and capital markets.
The proposal to merge the two funds was developed by AUI, creating a $360 million property fund holding commercial properties in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth.
“Australian Unity Funds Management, as the responsible entity, developed the proposal because it believes a merger of the two funds is in the best interests of SIT investors, as well as the existing investors in OPF,” Mr Pratt said.
As part of the proposal, investors in SIT will be offered an initial $5.7 million capped withdrawal offer, equating to approximately 25 per cent of SIT’s forecast net asset value at the withdrawal offer date, AUI stated.
“Having spoken with a number of investors, many of them expressed a desire to maintain their investment in the Australian property market beyond SIT’s scheduled termination,” Mr Pratt said.
“Through the merger, we are providing investors an opportunity to maintain their exposure to quality commercial property investments, better diversify their property exposure and have the opportunity to defer capital gains tax (CGT) on their investment."
