BrisConnections in first-time payout

The Age

Friday June 12, 2009

LUCY BATTERSBY

BRISCONNECTIONS unit holders will today finally get their first distribution payment - of .05 per stapled unit - 10 months after the company halted the payments to "preserve its capital".But only 111 million units are likely to receive the distribution because 278 million units have been forfeited by unit holders who failed to pay the second instalment of $1 a unit.A further distribution of about the same amount will be paid in mid-August to people holding units on June 30. The amount of the second distribution will be announced on Wednesday, the same day underwriters Macquarie Capital and Deutsche Bank are due to cover the $278 million shortfall in instalment payments.Shares in the company last traded on Wednesday, at 45 - down 68 per cent from the start of the year.Last week, BrisConnections failed to sell any of the forfeited units at an auction and is pursuing unit holders for their $1 instalment fee.BrisConnections floated in July last year with an issue of 390 million shares at $3 each - an initial payment of $1, with investors required to pay two additional $1 instalments, due nine and 12 months later.At the time of the float, the toll-road company intended to pay distributions of 5.95 per stapled unit. But after institutional investors offloaded millions of units and the unit price plunged to .01, BrisConnections cut and postponed the payment on October 30.The company said at the time: "There has recently been a significant volume of trading in the units, resulting in a significant number of unit holders with smaller holdings entering BrisConnections' register. BrisConnections is concerned that some of these acquisitions may be motivated by the disparity between the current unit price and the anticipated first distribution."In May last year, BrisConnections won a tender to build a $4.8 billion toll-road between Brisbane Airport and the city centre.The project is funded by Macquarie Capital Group, Thiess and John Holland Group, and is underwritten by Macquarie Capital and Deutsche Bank.