Managers launch IPO offers

MacarthurCook Funds Management and WH Souls Pattinson and Company (WHSP) will commence accepting offers from investors this week and next ahead of scheduled public listings of funds the pair are set to float in December.

MacarthurCook will accept offers from next Tuesday for it’s, soon to launch, MacarthurCook Property Securities Fund having lodged a copy of the product disclosure statement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) yesterday.

Meanwhile the private equity arm of WH Souls Pattinson and Company, which will launch as Souls Private Equity Limited (SPEL) next month began accepting offers from investors yesterday.

MacarthurCook is offering up to 70 million units of the property fund at $1 per unit while SPEL will aim to raise between $50 million and $100 million ahead of its listing.

MacarthurCook signaled its intention to launch the property fund in late October, with the fund to be 80 per cent invested in unlisted property trusts and syndicates with a 20 per cent exposure to listed property trusts.

“The fund solves many of the issues faced by retail investors seeking higher yields, tax advantages and liquidity while providing the the institutional sector with greater diversity,” MacarthurCook managing director Craig Dunstan said.

As for SPEL, the fund has been established as a vehicle to house and develop WHSP’s private equity investments and on completion of the initial public offering will have seeded portfolio value of around $22.8 million.

WHSP and SPEL chairman Rob Millner said the initiative will aim to provide investors with direct access to a pure private equity fund while also offering them the benefits of liquidity.