Hyperion Flagship to release $30m in general share offering

Listed investment company Hyperion Flagship Investments (HIP) intends to issue $30 million in company shares to current and prospective investors.

Manny Pohl, HIP managing director, said the decision was spurred by consumer interest and agreements by CommSec and Wilson HTM to participate as joint-lead managers in the offering. “We’ve been approached by people who want to invest,” Pohl said. “Existing shares are tightly held.” Pohl said the manoeuvre would be subject to a shareholder vote in August, and that once the prospectus had been lodged existing shareholders would have first access to one third of the available stocks. HIP, a medium to long-term Australian equities-focused investment company, outsources the day-to-day management of its funds to Hyperion Asset Management. Tim Samway, Hyperion institutional business director, said managers were paid only if the funds outperformed the All Ordinaries index. Returns generated by HIP have exceeded this benchmark for the past three years. It had returned 360 per cent, pre-tax and fees, Pohl said. The maximum price of each share released in the offer would be the volume weighted average market price for the five days preceding the release of the prospectus, HIP said in a statement. However, directors would be able to cut this price to no lower than 7 per cent of the net asset value per share on an ex-dividend basis. Pohl and Samway both hold substantial stakes in HIP.