News Round Up

Monday, February 5th 2001, 7:00AM

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is being asked to do more to warn the public about get rich quick schemes, especially those operating from overseas.

Parliament's Law and Order Select Committee says, in its annual financial review of the SFO, that would like to see the office doing more to warn the public about these schemes.

The committee says the measures been taken to date may not be enough to stop New Zealanders falling prey to these schemes. It wants to see a more pro-active approach taken.

National Property Trust expands

The National Property Trust is seeking unitholder approval to buy a group of shopping centre assets in the South Island, which will take the trusts net assets to $110 million.

The assets are the property and headlease interests of a major South Island shopping centre owner Southway Properties Ltd.

Southway Properties' investment property portfolio consists of the Hornby Mall and Eastgate Shopping Centre in Christchurch and two other minor properties.

"The acquisition will significantly increase the critical mass of National and will result in increased marketability and liquidity in the trading of National's units," National executive chairman Paul Dallimore says.

"The manager believes that the acquisition of Southway Properties will create opportunities for other initiatives to advance the growth of the trust towards its goal of achieving a critical mass of $200m of property assets," Dallimore says.

National plans to fund the acquisition though the issue of 16 million units to Southway shareholders and 4.5 million convertible preference units at $1 per unit to a selected investor at an interest rate of 11% for a 3 year term.

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