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Wealthy investors vie for opportunities with new Alex Waislitz fund

by: Damon Kitney
From: The Australian
September 18, 2013 12:00AM

THE new activist fund backed by Melbourne billionaire investor Alex Waislitz is set to scale back its allocations to investors before the end of the week after receiving bids from wealthy investors more than 25 per cent above expectations.

It is understood the new Thorney Opportunities, which will see Mr Waislitz and his star team manage public money for the first time, has received demand for almost $40 million worth of stock from 106 wealthy bidders, more than half of which are firms Mr Waislitz has had an association with in the past. It is likely the final allocation will be scaled back to just above $30m but the number is yet to be finalised.

One of the biggest demands for stock is believed to have come from Melbourne's billionaire Besen family, through its patriarch Marc Besen.

Other families who have bid for a significant place on the register include the Criddle family behind Perth-based mining services group Decmil and Melbourne's O'Brien family. The O'Brien family patriarch, Noel O'Brien, once ran the largest outdoor catering company in Australia and was a major shareholder in Spotless for more than a decade. His son's company, Redrock Leisure, has 30 hotels and catering businesses throughout Australia.

Others seeking stock include John Chan, executive chairman of Perth property group Finbar, and Richard Noon, former chief executive of online travel services provider Webjet.

Mr Waislitz held a briefing for investors in the Sydney offices of stockbroker Wilson HTM last week.

It was attended by the chairman of Wilson Asset Management, Geoff Wilson, and David Paradice of Paradice Asset Management, both of whom also have bid for stock in Thorney Opportunities.

At the briefing Mr Waislitz confirmed the new fund would target fewer than five core opportunities at a time and could be further bankrolled with fresh capital from his $1 billion Thorney private investment group.