Abacus Property, Charter Hall drop plan to buy Australian Unity Office Fund

The suitors were likely not counting on a move by the Peter Scanlon-backed Hume Partners.

Plans by Abacus Property Group and Charter Hall to buy the Australian Unity Office Fund have been abandoned.

It comes after a shareholder vote on the takeover on Monday did not provide enough support for the deal to proceed.

This was despite over 60 per cent of eligible votes cast being in favour of the resolution.

Charter Hall and Abacus looked like they had the deal sown up after they sold down a 19.9 per cent stake in the business to parties at $2.95 per share.

What the suitors were likely not counting on was a move by the Peter Scanlon-backed Hume Partners to lift its interest to 11.4 per cent from 8 per cent in what is seen as a blocking tactic.

Charter Hall and Abacus were not allowed to vote on the scheme of arrangement and the share sale of its 19.9 per cent interest was perceived as a move to help see that the shareholder vote, which was pushed back to November 18, swung in their favour.

The partnership announced on June 4 it was bidding for the Australian Unity Office Fund at $2.95 per share after it raided the register at that price.

In July, it sweetened the deal to $3.04 and the target backed the offer.

It was after this that Abacus and Charter Hall sold their holding into the market at the earlier offer price.

A scheme of arrangement requires 75 per cent of the value of shares voted to be in favour, and 50 per cent of the shareholders voting to succeed.

Some had thought Charter Hall and Abacus were not paying enough for the fund, but others believed the deal was looking to be expensive for the pair.

Shares were trading at $2.91 in late afternoon trade.