Billionaire legal stoush: Heloise Pratt suing estranged husband Alex Waislitz
Heloise Pratt and estranged husband Alex Waislitz had attempted negotiations through solicitors but are now headed to the Victorian Supreme Court.
Melbourne billionaire Heloise Pratt is suing her estranged husband, Alex Waislitz, alleging historical misconduct in the operations of their jointly-owned business, Thorney Investments.
Documents filed in the Victorian Supreme Court name Ms Pratt and her Pratt Family Trust as plaintiffs in a case against Mr Waislitz and numerous related parties, including family members.
The Pratt Family Trust is administered by her brother, billionaire Visy executive chairman Anthony Pratt, and sister Fiona Geminder.
In what looms as one of the biggest legal battles among billionaires in recent Australian history, the stoush centres around control of the $1.3bn stock investment empire run by Mr Waislitz but also owned by Ms Pratt for more than three decades.
As previously revealed by the Margin Call column, Ms Pratt and Mr Waislitz had been attempting to negotiate through solicitors over the ownership and control of Thorney Investments, which was started by Mr Waislitz in the early 1990s but also jointly owned by Ms Pratt.
The pair married in 1994 and remained on financially amicable terms following their separation in 2015. Ms Pratt sought to finalise the terms of their separation over the past 24 months, but those talks have broken down over the past year.
The case may rival that of legal battles involving other billionaire families, including Gina Rinehart and her family, and the Wright and Bennett families in Perth – both of which involve discussions over hundreds of millions, and even billions, of dollars of family wealth.
It is also the latest legal issue to involve the Pratt family – one of the richest families in Australia.
The NSW Supreme Court recently paved the way for Richard Pratt’s love child, Paula Hitchcock, to argue she is legally entitled to a slice of the family fortune because she is a child not only of the late billionaire but his wife, Jeanne Pratt.
Ms Hitchcock is trying to prove she is entitled to a slice of the Pratt Family Holdings Trust, which the Pratt siblings have fought in a NSW Supreme Court case.
Anthony Pratt and his family, including sisters Ms Pratt and Ms Geminder, have estimated combined wealth of $27.66bn according to this year’s edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250. Mr Waislitz is listed separately with estimated wealth of $1.5bn.
Thorney grew out of a sum of money provided by Ms Pratt’s father, the late cardboard magnate Richard Pratt.
Mr Waislitz has maintained that the funds were repaid.
In 1991, Mr Waislitz was given a $1.15m parcel of Amcor shares by his late father-in-law, which was parlayed into a $300m investment portfolio by the end of the decade and then more recently passed the $1bn mark.
Thorney and another investment vehicle it wholly owns, Tiga Trading, now have more than $1.3bn in net assets on its balance sheet according to documents filed recently with the corporate regulator.
Thorney Investments and Tiga Trading have more than $2bn combined invested in listed shares alone, their respective balance sheets reveal. Thorney also has property investments and holdings start-ups and other unlisted companies.
The Pratt family will allege that Mr Waislitz seriously misconducted himself over a number of years while steering the operations of Thorney Investments, in a case that will centre around control of the business and its group of entities.
It is understood to include allegations about board papers, financial statements and records, and investments.
Both Mr Waislitz and Ms Pratt are still listed as directors of Thorney Investments and other related entities. Other directors include Mr Waislitz’s brother, Avee – an investment manager who joined Thorney in 1994.
Mr Waislitz is engaged to singer and actor Rebekah Behbahani, with whom he has a child, Storm Behbahani-Waislitz. Ms Behbahani has also been the subject of a reality television series broadcast that she self-produced and has been broadcast by Channel 7.
Ms Pratt’s partner is former Noiseworks rock star Jon Stevens.
A spokesman for Mr Waislitz said it was not appropriate to comment on the Supreme Court case. A spokesman for Anthony Pratt would not comment when approached by The Australian.
Prominent king’s counsel Allan Myers is representing the Pratt family, and documents relating to the case were lodged with the Supreme Court this week.
Mr Waislitz is a renowned small and mid-cap share investor who also manages two listed investment companies – Thorney Opportunities and Thorney Technologies – and is also a part-owner, along with various Thorney entities, of ACM Media with business partner Antony Catalano.
ACM publishes regional newspapers such as The Canberra Times and Newcastle Herald.
The late Richard Pratt had sought to carve the family empire up by having Mr Waislitz and Ms Pratt control Thorney, Ms Geminder and husband Raphael “Ruffy” Geminder emerge with the Pact packaging business and Anthony Pratt head the family Visy business (sharing ownership with his two sisters) and own Pratt Industries in the US.
Tonagh quits ABC board early
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and an independent panel will now need to find a replacement for the ABC’s deputy chairman just months out from a federal election.
Fundamentals underpinning global tech’s market leadership
The tech sector is both a dominant force in financial markets and one whose potential is largely misunderstood by many investors. So how will it shape the global economy?