appointment of voluntary administrator

1256830v1
ASX Release
13 March 2009

APPOINTMENT OF VOLUNTARY ADMINISTRATOR TO BABCOCK &
BROWN LIMITED

The Directors of Babcock & Brown Limited today announce that investors in the
Company’s subordinated notes listed in New Zealand have voted against the
special resolution to restructure the terms of the notes. As a result of this vote
and as foreshadowed in the Explanatory Memorandum booklet released to the
market on 19 February 2009, the Board has appointed David Lombe and Simon
Cathro of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as Voluntary Administrators of Babcock &
Brown Limited.
The special resolution put to subordinated note holders required holders of
both the New Zealand notes and holders of the Australian notes to vote in
favour for the restructure. GIVEN THE RESULT OF THE MEETING IN NEW
ZEALAND, THE PROPOSED MEETING TO BE HELD IN SYDNEY,
AUSTRALIA AT 4.30PM TODAY WILL NOT PROCEED.
Trading in shares in Babcock & Brown (ASX: BNB) and the Australian
subordinated notes (ASX:BNBG) is already suspended. It is likely that trading in
the New Zealand listed notes will now also be suspended, and that all these
securities will be removed from the relevant Exchanges.
The administrators will contact creditors of Babcock & Brown Limited as part of
the administration and will explain to creditors the process and likely timeframe
of the administration.
The appointment of administrators to Babcock & Brown Limited is not expected
to have any material impact Babcock & Brown International Pty Ltd (BBIPL) the
main operating and asset owning entity of the Babcock & Brown Group. BBIPL
will continue to operate and will proceed with the orderly realisation of assets
over an approximate 2-3 year time horizon to reduce debt. The management
team will focus on ensuring that the value of assets and business platforms is
preserved during this process and all assets and businesses continue to be
managed appropriately and that all legal commitments and regulatory
requirements are met.
While the Babcock & Brown Board believes that there will be value for BBIPL’s
Corporate Facility lenders, it does not believe that there will be any value for
equity holders, and holders of the Company’s subordinated notes following the
completion of the BBIPL asset sale program.
The Board and Management of Babcock & Brown deeply regret the loss of
subordinated note and shareholder value that has occurred and acknowledge
the financial hardship this has caused. The Board and Management are
disappointed that a restructure of the notes could not be achieved as the Board
believes, for the reasons set out in the explanatory statement that accompanied
the notices of noteholders’ meetings, that the restructure would have produced
a potentially better result for all investors in the Company’s securities. However
they accept that some noteholders preferred to retain the original terms of the
notes.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Kelly Hibbins
Babcock & Brown
+61 2 9229 1800
[email protected]
For further information about Babcock & Brown please see our website:
www.babcockbrown.com