Real estate firm The Agency wins court ruling against administration action over disputed fee

Real estate firm The Agency has ended a brief stint in administration after successfully fighting off a claim made by a former director.

Director of investment group Magnolia, Mitchell Atkins, a former director at The Agency, appointed voluntary administrators BDO on January 19 to pursue the real estate firm over a disputed fee of about $385,000, which he alleged The Agency had refused to pay.

Magnolia also said it had lost confidence in The Agency Group’s board and its unknown financial position.

However, no creditors came forward in the federal court on Monday, and the administration ended later that day, according to an ASX statement released by The Agency.

It comes as the Australian Government Takeovers Panel ruled an earlier takeover bid by Mitchell Atkins of The Agency was made in “unacceptable circumstances”, and questioned the source of the funds for the bid.

“This was a resounding success for The Agency Group, who have had to deal with these baseless and distractionary antics of Mitchell Atkins and Magnolia Capital,” The Agency Group Managing Director Paul Niardone said.

“While these corporate distractions were occurring, they key thing was that our loyal staff, agents, buyers and sellers continued to operate, and we continued to list and sell houses.”

“Our agents are achieving exceptional results for their clients. Some of our agents have had their biggest January performances to date, on the east coast we have achieved 100 per cent auction clearance rates and listings are up 94 per cent on this time last year.”

At the time of the voluntary administration action The Agency’s position was that Magnolia had undertaken the action “for the purpose of destabilising The Agency and compelling the company to pay a disputed fee”.

“The Agency is in a strong financial position and the recent AGM results demonstrate the overwhelming support for the board’s strategy to continue to drive shareholder value,” the group said in a statement to the ASX.

In a separate statement by Magnolia Capital, the group said it had accepted the findings of the Takeovers Panel but continues to have concerns about the solvency of The Agency Group, which it hopes will be fully addressed in the company’s audited half-yearly financial accounts.