Maggiolo leads charge over dilution of shareholdings
Its debt deal gained McAleese only brief respite from the dramas swirling around it, with shareholder Gilberto Maggiolo seeking a shareholder meeting and board spill.
Maggiolo, a Queensland businessman and non-executive director since 2013, controls 14 per cent of McAleese.
This was up from 6.7 per cent after a share purchase last Thursday.
In a notice to McAleese on Thursday, Havenfresh signalled it would call for a general meeting to vote on whether the board should go or stay under section 249D of the Corporations Act 2001, given it controls more than 5 per cent of the shares.
“Havenfresh is concerned about the proposed refinancing of the company’s existing debt facilities and the recapitalisation proposal announced by the company on 7 June 2016,” the notice reads.
“Havenfresh does not believe either of these proposed transactions are in the best interests of the company or its shareholders.”
The deal, widely seen as saving the firm from being wound up, meant a dilution of original shareholders’ value in the firm, something the board noted at the time.
For its part, McAleese says that despite “extensive deliberations” by the board on the company’s proposed recapitalisation “over many months”, the board was not informed of Maggiolo’s position on the recapitalisation until last Tuesday.
“McAleese confirms that the heads of agreement announced on 7 June 2016 is legally binding on all parties to it,” it says.
“The acquisition of McAleese’s existing senior debt by the SC Lowy Consortium is expected to occur in late June 2016.”
The development came in the form of two announcements, with the second proposing two different directors from the three Havenfresh originally proposed.