PGC-The Last of the Kowhai?

Last month an elderly gentleman asked;

Q: What is the difference between PGC and Kowhai flowers?
A: The Kowhai flowers will be back next year.

The observation is PGC's upcoming delisting is the last you will ever hear or see of that company.

The comment came on the back of this tale.

The Great Kiwi Shakedown

A Los Angeles based investment manager and friend of the elderly gentleman recently opined, “Ha! It’s a shake down. The Great Kiwi Shake down!” Ironically Baker Street Capital Management, which together with George Kerr controls Pyne Gould and main investment vehicle Torchlight, is based in Los Angeles. The investment manager was referring to the recent disclosure to delist from the New Zealand stock exchange and list on the London Stock Exchange. He believed this is true because,

1. Baker Street Capital Management and George Kerr are putting “legal distance” between Pyne Gould’s original jurisdiction, New Zealand and the ultimate jurisdiction Guernsey, by first moving the “core business of Torchlight” to the Cayman Islands (p45, 2013 Annual report). Why he asked? He knows (as we do) the Baker Street Capital Management funds/investment vehicles are based in the Caymans. Is it purely a coincidence? From Baker Street's Sears Holdings analysis (The Case for Sears Holdings), you will see they understand intricate legal and tax structures well and know how to deal with them.  Why did George Kerr and Baker Street not move the business straight to Guernsey?
2. According to the LA investment manager, ““Why would I buy back stock, ahead of a public listing? It does not make any sense. Unless, I have no intention to list in London in the first place. If I plan a shake down, that is how I would do it. Read what they are saying to you. They are not saying, we will list! They are saying, “the Board is recommending to shareholders that PGC embark on a path which is intended to see PGC seek admission” They can travel on that path as long as it pleases them. The moment they delist “after 12 December 2013” is the last you will ever hear from my friends here in LA and that Kerr guy. Ha! It’s a shake down. The Great Kiwi Shake down! Good luck to those shmucks Down Under that own the piece of garbage.“
3. The last question the Los Angeles manager asked the elderly gentleman, “Where the hell is your regulator?” 

 ...Guest writer..