Sydney - Former Australian stock market darling Babcock and Brown Ltd (B and B) called in the receivers Friday after the investment bank's investors rejected a plan to deal with its 3-billion-Australian-dollar (2-billion-US-dollar) debt.

Trading in the firm's shares was halted in January and now the listing is to be removed from the exchange.

The business model of what was the country's second-largest investment bank was to borrow from banks to buy infrastructure assets and pay dividends to its shareholders from the income derived from running them.

As with other similarly structured firms, it was obliged to pay dividends from capital if its assets underperformed.

Babcock and Brown International Pty Ltd, the main operating and asset-owning entity of the B and B group, is not in receivership and is to continue to sell assets to reduce debt.

"The management team will focus on ensuring that the value of assets and business platforms is preserved during this process and all assets and businesses continue to be managed appropriately," B and B said in a statement. (dpa)