Corporate raider back among friends
Two former Brierley International associates are reunited in the $A2 million share placement of Sir Ron Brierley's latest foray across the Tasman.
Across the Tasman, Sir Ron Brierley is reuniting old Brierley International friends with an $A2 million placement for his Australian Stock Exchange-listed Mercantile Investment Co.
Two former associates of Sir Ron’s one-time sharemarket darling Brierley International are involved in subscribing for A$1 million, or 12.5 million shares in Mercantile.
They are Guinness Peat Group director and private investor Ron Langley, who used to be the international executive of Brierley Investments, and Gary Weiss, now the executive director of ASX-listed Ariadne Australia, whose subsidiary Gibsbourne Pty is subscribing.
On Thursday, Mercantile informed the ASX it had agreed a placement of 25 million shares at 8 cents per share to raise $2 million for “general investment purposes”.
The placement shares are expected to be issued today.Mercantile is the latest foray of Sir Ron, 74, whose career started out with audacious raids on plump companies he then stripped.
Later, he became a sharemarket darling with Brierley Investments and more recently GBP.Sir Ron took control of Mercantile, formerly India Equities Fund, just last month. India was launched in 2007 to invest in Indian stocks but failed to attract investor interest and cashed up last year.
Its shareholders were asked to approve a deal in which Sir Ron’s investment vehicle Sibow was issued with 103 million India Equities shares at 8Ac a share, giving Sir Ron 54% of the company.
GPG is now winding down after Sir Ron and his old-guard team were pushed out amidst shareholder revolt about plans to carve up the investment vehicle.
He has said his latest foray is “nothing too big, nothing too ambitious” but part of plans to keep active in the corporate world.
His exact plans for Mercantile have not yet been revealed.
Mercantile shares are trading at 7.3 cents.
Georgina Bond
Mon, 27 Feb 2012
Mon, 27 Feb 2012
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Corporate raider back among friends
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