(11th November 2003 – Australia) Kerry Packer owned Challenger Financial Services Group has announced it will put a corporatisation proposal to unitholders at an AGM on 22 December in a bid to address investor concerns on transparency.Challenger will internalise its responsible entity function and take away the requirement of paying ongoing management fees to an external company CPH management.
The company said directors had unanimously voted to proceed with the proposed restructure, which will see it paying CPH A$96 million for CPH Management agreeing to retire as responsible entity.
The company also announced it would sell its quarter stake in beauty products group Jurlique for $36 million.
Challenger chief executive officer Chris Cuffe said the existing trust structure was unusual for a financial services company and had received criticism from existing and potential investors.