Andrew and Nicola Forrest to pursue separate lives
Australia’s richest couple, Andrew andNicola Forrest, have separated but insist the strategic direction of the mining giant they control, Fortescue Metals Group, will not be affected by their decision to pursue independent lives.
The Forrests confirmed the demise of their 31-year marriage after being approached by The Australian Financial Review about a transaction last month that moved more than $1.1 billion worth of Fortescue shares into a new company called Coaxial Ventures, which is wholly owned by Nicola Forrest.
Andrew and Nicola Forrest on the banks of the Swan River in Perth last month.
That transfer followed February’s change to the ownership structure of the Forrests’ flagship private company, Tattarang Pty Ltd, where Andrew Forrest gave half of his Tattarang shareholding to Ms Forrest.
Tattarang holds more Fortescue shares than any other Forrest family entity and the combined effect of the Coaxial and Tattarang transactions has, based on the ownership structure of Forrest family companies, given Ms Forrest control of more Fortescue shares than Mr Forrest.
As recently as March 2020, when Ms Forrest was not a shareholder in Tattarang and Coaxial did not exist, more than 94 per cent of the family’s Fortescue shares were held by companies owned by Mr Forrest.
The Forrest camp played down the significance of Ms Forrest’s apparent ascension to become the biggest holder of Fortescue shares; the couple are considered “associates” under section 9 of the Corporations Act and the 50 million shares transferred to Coaxial are therefore considered part of Mr Forrest’s stake in Fortescue, even though he is not a shareholder or a director of Coaxial.
Asked about the flurry of transactions, Andrew and Nicola Forrest
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