Why the affiliated membership structure?

Like most small companies in Australia, the company behind Bass Coast Aquarium project is a private company and certain restrictions exist under the Australian Corporation Act 2001.

The Act puts certain restrictions on proprietary (private) companies such as not permitting them to have more than 50 members (shareholders). Another important restriction relates to fundraising. A proprietary company must not engage in fundraising that would require a disclosure document such as a prospectus, an offer information statement, or a profile statement to be issued (sec.113(3)). The Act states in which circumstances a company must issue a prospectus when attempting to raise funds. This means that a proprietary company must not offer its shares to the public.

 

Why is there a $39 fee to become an affiliate bronze member?

As a private company cannot offer a prospectus, the only way a public member can be given information is to become an associate or affiliate to the company. By paying for bronze membership you are becoming an affiliated member and can have access to more information about the project. As part of your Bronze membership you will receive and annual pass to the aquarium when it opens to the public.

The member’s area of this website is to assist you in making an informed decision on whether purchasing an aquarium display setup through another membership level, is for you or not.

 

What if I pay and become an affiliate Bronze member but decide that other membership is not for me?

As a Bronze member you will have access to the aquarium (annual pass worth $75) for the first year after its public opening as well as free guided tour of the facility on allocated days.

 

How can we guarantee our financial returns?

To be involved with this project and get a return, you will need to purchase a membership and display tank that will remain within the aquarium. The aquarium will then lease this display tank back from you. As the return is via a lease, you get a fixed return on that lease. The return from the lease is currently 15%pa of the purchase price for Silver members. The lease return is not based on the businesses yearly financial performance, but on a fixed financial return via the lease. The display tank that you purchase is your security until the buy-back of the display tank is finalised with you.

 

Why are we offering such a good financial return for the leases?

The first five years of any new business is the most vulnerable period for its survival. We can offer a good return, simply by the way we are structuring the lease payments and buy-back. With a traditional lease from a financial institution we would need to pay back the principle and interest at the same time, which over a 3 year period would be approximately 40 to 60% pa of the initial purchase price of the display tank. This would put a lot of financial pressure on a new business.

By offering a lease arrangement in which the principle is pay back at a later date (between 2 to 10 years) we reduce the initial financial pressure on the business and thus can offer better financial return affiliated members.