Fed-up investor fires a salvo at Home REIT board over sale U-turn
Investor in troubled homeless landlord Home REIT blasts board as being ‘out of their depth’ after abrupt U-turn over takeover offer
An investor in troubled homeless landlord Home REIT has blasted its board as being ‘out of their depth’ after an abrupt U-turn over a takeover offer.
On Thursday, potential suitor Bluestar Group abandoned its pursuit following three months of negotiations, saying it was ‘highly disappointed’ the formal offer deadline had not been extended.
It criticised Home REIT’s board for refusing to engage with its proposals, saying it had become ‘frustrated’.
‘Out of their depth’: Potential suitor Bluestar Group abandoned its pursuit following three months of negotiations
After the offer deadline lapsed, Home REIT said it believed Bluestar’s proposal was ‘unlikely to maximise value for shareholders’ and that it had abandoned its plans to sell.
This infuriated some of Home REIT’s disgruntled investors who have been trapped since its shares were suspended in January following scandals and questions about its business model.
‘This board doesn’t listen to shareholders. I’ve spoken to lots of other investors and none have been contacted about this process,’ one shareholder said.
‘They spent months ‘running a process’. So to now U-turn just shows that the board are out of their depth and have an adviser who does not seem to care about the process or engaging with shareholders.’
Home REIT now faces an uncertain future.
The company is in dispute with several major tenants while an internal investigation into bribery allegations is also underway.