Paul Lederer says Elanor trust mismanaged as tussle heads for Takeovers Panel

Paul Lederer believes his Lederer Group can boost the performance of Elanor’s office trust. Picture: Nic Walker

Billionaire Paul Lederer has laid out ambitions of turning around Elanor’s listed office fund as he tries to take it over and steer it away from the grip of its troubled manager.

The billionaire, who owns a 27 per cent interest in the Elanor Commercial Property Fund after coming in as a white knight last year, lobbed a takeover offer for the $289m vehicle last month.

He is aiming to either win control of the vehicle entirely, and move to delist it, or win the support of enough investors that he can take control and grow it as a “proper” trust. The billionaire, best known as a co-owner of the A-League’s Western Sydney Wanderers, wants to revive its fortunes using his own group’s property skills.

Mr Lederer is comfortable making a foray in public markets and has been involved in a series of listed companies. He made his fortune with the Primo Smallgoods family business, making it into an Australian food giant before it was sold to meat processing giant JBS in a $1.45bn deal, and he remains an active property player.

He is critical of the way in which Elanor – which only filed its 2024 accounts last week, revealing a $157m loss – has run the trust.

“We’ve been in business for the better part of 50 years … really, numbers matter, they really do, and the performance of the fund is very poor, and management is very poor,” he said.

Mr Lederer said the trust’s performance was weak when compared to its peers and he was disappointed for other investors. “I think all the unit holders are very disappointed,” he said, adding that the fees being charged were exorbitant.

He dubbed Elanor a “rollercoaster” with numerous staff coming and going. “There’s no continuity … it’s the lack of management that’s creating this problem,” he said.

The Lederer camp is also unhappy that the board of the office fund’s responsible entity is the same as Elanor’s head company board. He believes his private company can run it better and then grow it. “We’ve managed all kinds of properties, from shopping centres to high-rise office buildings and industrial, where we build and construct,” he said.

Mr Lederer said his group had a “great team”, but Elanor’s management did not.

“I think we can manage the trust better for everyone, not only for us,” he said. “We know what it takes to manage this properly. And by the way, it’s no secret out in the market that it is mismanaged.”

The billionaire remains a big believer in offices and called out the shift towards work from home as damaging to productivity. “I think the government’s making a huge mistake about working from home,” he said.

He believes the market is throwing up opportunities to expand. “There’s a turnaround on as we speak, and it’ll be a significant, quick turnaround,” Mr Lederer said.

The Lederer camp is concerned about Singapore group Rockworth playing a greater role in Elanor’s management – if a planned rescue plan comes to pass – and how its strategy would affect the local fund.

“We will run it as a proper trust and hopefully expand it,” Mr Lederer said. “We are builders of companies, we never stay still. Our intention is not just steady as she goes, we want to make it bigger and better for everyone.”

The billionaire’s actions have prompted a sharp response from Elanor and it has gone to the Takeovers Panel. It noted that the Lederer takeover bid said that if it got more than 50 per cent of the trust it intended to sack the manager and replace it with a Lederer-linked company.

Elanor said the bidder’s statement had material information deficiencies about the ownership, personnel, expertise and track record of Mr Lederer, Lederer Family Office and the associated LDR Capital.

It also claimed there was speculation of a change to the fund’s strategy or investments and a misleading comparison of its management expenses. Elanor said Mr Lederer should be required to issue a new bidder’s statement. He plans to update it after Elanor last week reported its results. It is yet to report for 2025.