has been held up after a late Friday afternoon court hearing at which lawyers acting for the private equity and hedge fund consortium that has bid for Perpetual made a surprise appearance.
Lawyers acting for Morello, the hedge fund and private equity consortium that has lobbed two rejected bids for Perpetual, had their request to be heard in the matter knocked back by the Supreme Court judge, who said Perpetual had sufficient competence to argue its own case. “You know, the pressures in asset management these days where margins are under fairly constant pressure, both from rising costs and clients wanting to decrease what they pay, they’re heavy pressures and benefits of bringing these two organisations together we think presents a compelling opportunity,” he said.
Perpetual in turn said that it could kill the deal if it conflicted with its fiduciary obligation to shareholders, and that the deal terms provided for the payment of a $23 million break-fee in such an event.