Another irony is marketing for the sale trumps up the mutual...

Another irony is marketing for the sale trumps up the mutual benefits the sale will achieve – sale leads from the property managers; and rental/management leads from sales agents. They had all this in-house prior to the sale and only highlights the absurdity of the sale. Is the sale to appease bankers? Why else would you sell at 2.5x PM fees when market is supposedly 3.5x and risk devaluing the rest of your rental book value by a third. The timing is atrocious given the annual statutory accounts are in preparation and under audit so now the Board will need to convince auditors the rest of the property book is 3.5x not 2.5x - a difference of some $5.5m. The annual report could be interesting reading. A look at MEA indicates MEA also value their rental book at 3.5x PM fees. Would not be too surprised if in a couple of years they look to buy back the WA PM business at a substantially higher value.