Illustration: John Shakespeare.
WHERE is Nathan Tinkler? Normally a stand-out in any crowd, the Newcastle miner is proving harder to spot than Wally, the star of the Where's Wally? series of picture books.
Tinkler hasn't been seen at any of the various court hearings in Australia, where companies in his under-pressure group have been fighting wind-up actions, and CBD's operative in Singapore was unable to locate the former electrician at his luxury pad.
Looking on the share register of Tinkler's Singaporean company won't help - he isn't there either. On Tuesday CBD's operative knocked on the door of Tinkler's pad, in a leafy Singapore suburb close to the Australian High Commission, but answer came there none.
Tinkler's empire is under financial siege, with receivers of his company TGHA Aviation seizing his private jet and helicopter, his Patinack Farm horse-racing empire struggling to pay for feed and his private vehicle Mulsanne Resources in liquidation.
But there's no sign of financial trouble at Tinkler's Singaporean vehicle, Bentley Resources (named for the carmaker that produces a model called the Mulsanne).
Indeed, if the company website, a single static page, is any guide, not much of anything has happened since the company was registered in March. And don't go looking for Tinkler among Bentley's shareholders. While he's a director of the company, he isn't recorded as owning a stake in the company.
Documents filed with the Singaporean authorities show Bentley has paid-up share capital of just one Singapore dollar in the shape of one share held by fellow director Lee Wei Hsiung. Lee is a Singaporean citizen who works as an accountant at the company that set up Bentley, Tricor Singapore.
Tinkler also doesn't own his residence in the Lion City, according to Singaporean land title records. The registered owner of the property is Indian-born property developer and polo player Satinder Garcha, who earlier this year Forbes magazine named as Singapore's 37th richest person.
CBD rang Tinkler's flack, Tim Allerton of City Public Relations, who promised to find out where his client was. He was still trying as CBD went to press.
Minnow in deep
DIRECTORS of media and technology minnow Motopia better hope they've got some friends in the British Virgin Islands.
The company meets on Thursday in Melbourne, when its biggest shareholder looks set to vote against the re-election of directors Gernot Abl and Michael Green.
That shareholder is Wendy Syme, who holds about 8.45 per cent of Motopia stock, issued to her when the company bought her marketing business cBox in 2009 (she later bought it back for $1).
Syme and her allies are likely to be opposed by interests associated with former director Frank Cannavo, who CBD last spotted exiting the board of Kazakh potash play Fortis Mining when Hong Kong mystery investor Madame Cheung came on the scene.
Shareholders were also to decide whether to ratify the appointment of Northern Territory barrister Raelene Webb, QC, as a director, but she resigned late last month after just two months on the board.
CBD understands the battle for Motopia was finely balanced ahead of the meeting. So on the day the deciding voice could be a company called Ace Dynasty Investments, of Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Its potential ace in the hole: 40 million shares, which on the back of CBD's envelope represents 6.7 per cent of Motopia.
If the board survives this meeting, a further challenge lies ahead: Syme has called for an extraordinary meeting to tip out Abl, Green and Frank Vetrone and instead appoint her partner Jason Edwards, together with Thomas Burt and Gerard Monaghan.
Minding his words
IF HIS answer to a curly question on Wednesday is any guide, NAB's head of business banking, Joseph Healy, would make a good politician. Asked at the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia lunch if the Gillard government's mining tax was hurting infrastructure investment, he played a dead bat. ''I don't really have a well-developed view on that,'' he said. ''It's not a satisfactory response, but it's an honest response.''
The Scottish-born executive was more forthcoming on the prospects for crisis-stricken Europe, saying it was hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel over the next five years. ''If I wanted to get gloomier I would talk about Scotland, but I won't,'' he said.
Ready to rev?
ATTENTION businessmen experiencing a mid-life crisis: now you can advertise your insecurity at a bargain-basement price.
Auctioneer Pickles is flogging the stock of Sydney's failed Lamborghini dealership on Monday night as part of its regular auction of repossessed luxury vehicles. Documents filed with the corporate regulator show the company behind the dealership, Global Automotive Holdings, owed more than $5 million, mostly to the Bank of Queensland, when it collapsed in October.
The big attraction on Monday is the dealership's show-room star, a 2012 Lamborghini Gallardo worth about $600,000 as a new car.
It seats two - perfect for you and that teenage girlfriend who cost you your wife - and has just 968 kilometres on the clock. Sadly, it's basic black rather than go-faster red, but beggars can't be choosy.
Got a tip? bbutler@fairfaxmedia.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment