mirvac continue project now frozen aqua fund

The first article has been already discussed..
But the second is recent and may be of interest to PIF
Take particular note of the growing number of frozen Funds
..an attempt to PROTECT funds IMO.
Duped there are many investors in your fleet of 'Life Boats' hoping to weather this storm..
Take this back to your PIF forum and AG..and make your own desicions.
1.
David Sexton

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

© The Cairns Post



WORK on the stalled Port Douglas Bale project could resume within three weeks, with key investor Mirvac planning to fund construction of the final stages.

Bale has been in limbo for several months, after property developers MFS, now known as Octaviar, ran into financial difficulties.

Sources close to Bale say Mirvac is about to step in with its own money and building licence, in order to protect its investment in the project.

It is understood Mirvac has agreed to continue the Ray Group’s role as development and marketing managers.

Contacts from Octaviar and the Ray Group did not respond to requests for comment from Business Week, while Mirvac also was tight-lipped.

Sources close to the project said Mirvac’s decision would make sense.

"They want to make sure that the project goes ahead," one source said.

"It is a good project and there’s no reason it won’t succeed."

A construction resumption would be good news for the sub-contractors who were employed at Bale.

Construction stopped earlier in the year after a financial crisis at MFS which saw the company rush to sell key assets.

In February it announced plans to sell 65 per cent of its Stella tourism arm to US private equity fund CVC Asia Pacific for just over $409 million.

At the time, the MFS board was reported as saying the sale would bring stability to the group after weeks of turmoil.

MFS has given away little information about its plans for Bale.

Back in February, spokesman John Hurst said only that Bale was "part of the review of overall group operations which are continuing".

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2008/05/21/4021_local-business-news.html

2.
To continue about MIRVAC

August 1, 2008 - 4:28PM

Mirvac Group, an Australian real estate investment trust, stopped redemptions for three mortgage funds holding more than $243 million, as investors seek to pull out of property assets amid the global credit crisis.

The mortgage funds, managed by joint venture Mirvac AQUA, won't accept redemptions or new investments for as long as six months, Stephen Tunley, the venture's chief executive officer, said yesterday on Mirvac AQUA's Web site.
One of the venture's credit portfolios was placed in receivership in early July after loans valued at $39 million were found to be impaired, he said.

The suspension ``will enable the manager to address both the loan performance issues and to restore value to the funds/pools investors,'' Tunley said.

Real estate trusts are facing declines in funds under management as property values slide after the U.S. subprime collapse prompted more than $480 billion of writedowns globally and dried up lending to fund real estate sales.

AMP Capital, the investment management arm of Australia's biggest life insurer, today froze a $NZ420 million ($327 million) property fund, the second suspension in New Zealand in a week. Guardian Trust, a unit of Brisbane-based Suncorp Metway Ltd., suspended its $NZ249 million Guardian Mortgage Fund on July 30.

Mirvac shares fell as much as 7% and ended the day down 0.8% at $2.53 on the Australian stock exchange, down about 65% this year. AMP shares fell 50 cents, or 7.6% to $6.06.

http://business.smh.com.au/business/mirvac-stops-redemptions-on-three-mortgage-funds-20080801-3ogj.html