Freedom to halt shares disposal
SEVERAL alleged dubious property transactions are at the root of the urgent interim interdict obtained by listed Freedom Property Fund to prevent its former chief executive and two former company associates from disposing of their shares in the fund.
Stephen Maritz, the chief executive of Freedom, confirmed yesterday that they believed certain transgressions took place in several “dubious property transactions”.
“There are two (transactions) that specifically concern us. We haven’t got satisfactory answers that they are above board or that there is not something more sinister to them.
“Naturally we would not have taken the drastic steps we have if we did not have substantial information in our hands,” he said.
Maritz’s comments follow Freedom Property Fund advising shareholders yesterday that an urgent application had been brought by the company in the High Court in Grahamstown last Friday against the company’s former chief executive Nagendra Tyrone Govender, Graham Stavridis and Clifford Daniell Cawood, both previously business development service providers to the company together with trusts and companies controlled by or associated with them.
An interim order was granted by the High Court in favour of the company without notice to the three respondents.
The company said the interim order interdicted and prevented the three from selling, disposing of or encumbering any shares in or claims against Freedom and selling or disposing or encumbering certain properties held by the three pending the June 9 return date.
Maritz said the number of shares affected by the interdict was “a moving target”.
He said Stavridis had at least 100 million Freedom shares and Govender about 11 million. Maritz said Cawood owned substantially less Freedom shares than Stavridis, but his shareholding was difficult to quantify because it did not involve straightforward entities where the owner of the beneficial interest was known.
Govender said yesterday that the application had not been served on him and he was therefore unable to comment on it. He stressed that people should not infer anything from the application.
Govender resigned with immediate effect on November 23 for “personal circumstances”.
The company said Govender would, in terms of his service contract, remain in his position for the 60 days notice period until January 23.
Contract
Interim chairman Wayne Stocks said at the time it was with deep regret they accepted Govender’s decision, although he could fully understand the rationale behind it.
The company listed just over 1 billion shares at an issue price of R1 each on the JSE’s main board in June 2014, but has lost almost 90 percent of its value since listing. The share price closed yesterday at 11c.
Maritz said last month, after 100 days in his new position, that the company’s proposed strategy for the next 12 months involved no further acquisitions, no new property developments other than those where Freedom was contractually bound, cost cutting and reducing the company’s gearing to more manageable levels, and the sale of non-core assets.