How to lose $22m in 6 months

George Kerr has a reputation for being an astute dealmaker and the following is based on the assumption that it was him and Bryan Mogridge behind the dealing at PGC and Torchlight. Your board under the leadership of Bryan Mogridge is double backing and he is contradicting himself, which ultimately cost PGC shareholders and arm and a leg.

Ratatat-tat -- Another one

It was pointed out to me that until recent events Heartland New Zealand's largest shareholder was Pyne Gould Corp and the fourth largest shareholder is Pyne Holdings. Focus on the corporate structure below.

1. Pyne Gould shares were held by Torchlight Securities (TS), which is 100% owned by Pyne Gould Corp (PGC).
2. Pyne Gould owns only 10% of Torchlight Fund LP1 (LP1)
3. Pyne Nominees is 100% beneficially owned by George Kerr and owns 9% of  LP1 and Mogridge has a direct stake in LP1

It is interesting to note that the money which I assume is being raised to plug the hole in LP1, which was funded by the loan from the cash fund is raised not by selling Kerr's shares in Heartland held through Pyne Nominees, but by selling PGC's Heartland shares held through TS. You would have expected the Heartland shares to at least have been sold down in equal amounts spread between Pyne Nominees and PGC.

Surprised?

Cheerio!
jA
Anderson Cooper once said, I think it's a good thing that there are bloggers out there watching very closely and holding people accountable. Everyone in the news should be able to hold up to that kind of scrutiny. I'm for as much transparency in the newsgathering process as possible.

Torchlight Securities - Rat in me kitchen

The UB40 song goes;

There's a rat in me kitchen what am I gonna do?

There's a rat in me kitchen what am I gonna go?

I'm gonna fix that rat thats what I'm gonna do,

I'm gonna fix that rat.

Speaking about fixing, what exactly is being fixed right under shareholders’ noses?

Think! Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiink about id!

The FMA is kicking up a big fuss about Kerr, Mogridge, et al using a Perpetual Trust vehicle to patch a hole at Torchlight Fund LP 1 and rightfully so.

But what is happeniiiiiiiiiiiing??

Bryan Mogridge, "(it) would be foolish"

Lord Francis Jeffrey said, “A good name, like good will, is got by many actions and lost by one“ or maybe it is more appropriate in this case to say, actions speak louder than words. 

Shareholders of PGC struggle to reconcile many things of which most are listed on this blog. It is up to the Board and will be to everyone’s benefit if it would clarify these apparent contradictions. So can the Board please step up and communicate with its shareholders? 

The general feedback we are getting is that the attempt by Bryan Mogridge on 4 May 2012 in his Letter to Shareholders is woefully inadequate. Not one person has said that they deem that communication to be adequate; something for Mr Mogridge to consider. 

Bryan Mogridge

The latest action, a few weeks ago on 17 May, throws up yet another apparent contradiction by Bryan Mogridge and as always we invite him to publicly clear it up.

Letter to the auditors of PGC, Heartland, PGW

So KPMG resigned. Wow, that is great news! Find the press release below and then continue to read.


Some time ago, one of our more experienced (in investment matters) readers told us about a strategy that sometimes yield interesting results.

If you have serious doubts about a company's financial statements then you write a letter to the auditors of a company highlighting the relevant issues. You can do this either as an open letter or as private correspondence, but if it is private then you make it clear you reserve the right to later publicise the letter. If you deal with auditors with half a brain cell then generally the end result is that the auditors put in double the effort to ensure they are comfortable signing off due to the implications of being forewarned.

Open letter to the NZX and FMA

The letter below went out to the NZX, the FMA. A reporter and Bryan Mogridge was copied on this letter. I will post any replies.

Cheerio!
jA

Easy pickings

The first bit of news is that AEP has been able to mop up enough shares to get to 63.68% of PGC's shares. It has been explained to us that it is also now time to hatch that which has been counted or put another way, pay for those shares. It has always intrigued us that never was funding mentioned or even asked about by investors who are handing over their shares. Although one can put it down to pure speculation the analysis that we've seen suggests that with $150m here and $150m there, soon you are talking real money. With a business structure as convoluted as this and debt behind debt, like this,  it might not be so simple to fork out the twenty odd million. What seems like a pittance in the world of Kerr/Darby/Baker Street might turn out to be what breaks the camel's back.

The answer to Tim Hunter's question is "Yes, of course!!"

Tim Hunter recently asked whether Heartland should have been more blunt in this article

Greenslade

The answer is, Yes of course!!

Irvine

You would think the CEO Jeff Greenslade would be more straight forward at a time his company is applying for a banking license and Bruce Irvine would keep a close watch over reporting standards at a time when he is stepping down from PGC because his behaviour at PGC is being questioned.