Asic Seeks Antidote To Fight Tweed 'virus'

The Age

Thursday August 10, 2006

SHAREMARKET scavenger David Tweed has copped his fair share of insults. And deservedly so, many would argue.

The corporate watchdog has come up with its own choice assessment of Tweed, in particular of his unscrupulous takeover bid for listed fund manager Clime Capital.

"We likened the bid to a virus that we did not want to let loose on our market," Australian Securities and Investments Commission deputy chairman Jeremy Cooper said in a statement yesterday. A virus, eh? Cooper told us he dreamed that one up himself.

ASIC moved to block the hostile bid by Tweed's private company Australian Share Purchasing Company by threatening legal action unless it was withdrawn. Tweed - being the coward that he is, according to Clime boss Roger Montgomery - has backed down.

Among ASIC's many concerns was that the bid was confusing, misleading and was a capital reduction in disguise. The watchdog was also worried that Tweed wanted to use Clime's money rather than his own to pay for the bid. Surprise, surprise.

Tweed's bid for Clime Capital followed his repeated attempts to join the company's board, change its constitution, remove the chairman and, finally, have the company buy back his 17 per cent stake. He has called five extraordinary meetings since April, at a cost of up to $500,000.

While ASIC's action is good news for Clime shareholders, Montgomery isn't confident he's seen the last of Tweed.

"We do not expect this to be his last attempt and shareholders need to remain vigilant," he said. Meanwhile, Montgomery said the board was "assessing our options". That's code for working out how they can sue the guy's tracksuit pants off.

Shares crash-land

You wouldn't believe it in a million years. ASI Entertainment, the company with the cute ASiQ share code in the US that was being "pumped" by US brokers earlier this week is based in - beautiful downtown Melbourne.

Founder Ron Chapman said yesterday being listed on the NASDAQ over the counter bulletin board had lost its allure thanks to the "pump and dump" tactics of some brokers. This week's internet push - that was instigated by the brokers, not the company - resulted in a big sell-off of ASiQ shares, he said yesterday, with some exasperation.

But the thrust of the brokers' message was right. ASiQ has got a device that allows flyers to send text messages from their mobile phones while flying - without interfering with the avionics. Boeing and Airbus have both tried to get inflight voice calls going, but Boeing has just withdrawn its $1 billion system, which used the expensive KU band satellites, and Airbus' system, at 2.4 kilobits a second, was too slow. ASiQ finds itself in the lead in this market segment, albeit with text messages only at present.

However, Chapman said noise-cancelling headsets would give ASiQ the voice function without the shouting that blighted the Boeing and Airbus systems. Chapman said ASiQ had already signed Saudi Airlines and was set to launch the system at a big trade show next month.

He expected it to be commercialised by the end of the year, after which it should just, well, take off.

Naked ambition

HANDS up all company directors who once sported green mohawks? Daniel Marsden, a non-executive director of alternative fuel company Green X Global, certainly has.

And hands up any company directors who have bared all for a national magazine? Yep, Marsden's done that too. (Although we're not sure that's a trend we'd like to encourage.)

To be fair, Marsden wasn't completely starkers when he posed for Black + White mag back in 2000 with other members of the Sydney Olympics team. The captain of the men's water polo side kept his swimming cap on.

Nevertheless, it's a look that Marsden is likely to don again, given his recent selection in the Australian squad after nearly six years' absence.

The prospect of competing in the 2008 Olympic Games means hours of training, which has prompted Marsden to resign from his board seat.

Let's just hope he finds those missing togs before he boards the plan to Beijing.