$50m dividend payday for Nicola Forrest
Billionaire Nicola Forrest is due a $50m payday from Fortescue Metals Group shares, the first dividend windfall since the announcement of her split with Andrew in July.
Billionaire Nicola Forrest is due a $50m dividend payday from the Fortescue Metals Group shares, the first since the announcement of her split with husband Andrew Forrest in July.
FMG, of which Andrew Forrest is executive chairman, announced a final dividend of $1 per share as part of the release of its financial results on Monday.
Nicola Forrest has a new separate shareholding in FMG, held just in her name while the rest of the Forrest family fortune is jointly held with Andrew Forrest.
Under the changes to the structure of the family holdings lodged with the Australian Securities Exchange in late June, Nicola Forrest now controls 50 million Fortescue shares – about 1.6 per cent of the company, and 4.4 per cent of their combined holdings – through a company she directly and solely owns, Coaxial Ventures.
The $1 per share fully franked dividend is payable to all FMG shareholders on September 28.
The former Forrest couple also have joint equal ownership of the largest stake in FMG that will jointly deliver them more than $800m in dividends to their private companies that include Tattarang and AMNL Financing.
Outside of Fortescue also have an equal ownership of the private Tattarang business empire that spans cattle holdings, brands like RM Williams, Perth commercial property and at least two superyachts – Pangaea Ocean Explorer and Thalanyji.
Their huge Minderoo charitable foundation also has a large shareholding in FMG, which will deliver it about $250m in dividends in late September.
In total, the Forrest family and its various shareholdings - as well as the Minderoo foundation - will receive about $1.13bn in dividends.
Fortescue shares have fallen about 3 per cent on Monday, wiping about $700m from their combined paper shareholding.
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