Blue Sky stands by Pinnacle deal after Wilson ups the ante

Wilson Asset Management (ASX: WAM) has raised the stakes in its bid to run Blue Sky Alternative Investments' (ASX: BLA) alternative access fund, but the embattled company has been unswayed.

WAM has offered a fee-free period for BLA-managed assets as well as an expansion of the scope of its services to match those of Alterum, the name given to the proposed set-up with Pinnacle Investment (ASX: PNI). 

However, BLA has not agreed to a key condition of the WAM deal which would mean terminating existing management services agreements so that WAM can take over.

In addition, the Alterum management team's "deep working knowledge" of the current portfolio was highlighted as a key point of difference" to the WAM proposal by management at the alternative access fund, listed on the ASX as BAF.

The BAF board plans to recommend that shareholders vote for the Alterum proposal at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to be held on 13 December. The board previously indicated the EGM would be postponed, but it appears now to have been slated for the original date.

Wilson's latest proposal comes just over a week after Pinnacle improved its bid to include the removal of performance fees and a reduction in the initial term of the agreement to five years.

Pinnacle's counter-offer also coincided with the announcement that BAF chairman Andrew Champion would not run for re-election.

BAF has today announced a marginal increase in October for its pre-tax net tangible assets (NTA) to $1.1087 per share, compared to the current share price of $0.855.

This growth was mainly driven by a positive month for the Blue Sky Water Fund which Melbourne-based Aware Water Group has been trying to buy. 

The alternative access fund adds its share buy-back has continued with close to two million shares purchased during October at a 23 per cent discount to the pre-tax NTA.

Business News Australia