Soul Patts hits out at Perpetual

WASHINGTON H. Soul Pattinson chairman Rob Millner has questioned the motives of Perpetual after a court rejected the fund manager’s bid to end the cross-shareholding between Soul Patts and Brickworks.

Mr Millner says Perpetual had an “illiquid, overweight position” of 12 per cent of Soul Patts at the time it launched the break-up attempt in 2010.

“They ended up with an illiquid, overweight position in the stock and it would have taken them a long time to sell it down at market volumes,” he said.

He was speaking after the Federal Court yesterday dismissed a long-running legal bid by Perpetual to prove the cross-investment structure was “oppressive” and costly.

As part of a long-term arrangement, Soul Patts owns 44 per cent of Brickworks while Brickworks owns 42.7 per cent of Soul Patts.