Meeting brought Van Eyk concerns to a head

Van Eyk is in liquidation after striking trouble when four of its funds were invested in an illiquid asset and money could not be repaid on demand.

AWI told the ASX last month that with a 36.2% stake, it wanted out of Van Eyk. “Van Eyk Research is no longer a strategic asset — we are seeking to maximise value, by any means possible, from this investment".

In February, it had signalled that it wanted to take control on the company – despite the fact that Perpetual Trust, of which AWI chairman Andrew Barnes is also chair, had begun to pull money out, concerned at what was happening at Van Eyk.

Barnes said an EGM for AWI was called earlier this year, at which the matter came to a head. “At the EGM, we didn’t manage to get a representative on to the board… once we could not get control of the company, or a representative on to the board, we had significant risk and no control. If you have no control, you can’t do anything with it. If you can’t do anything with it, you have to decide at what point you’re going to continue to use it to fulfil a strategy and at what point it’s just an investment. In the absence of being able to take control, it’s just an investment and no longer strategic.”