Hi abdm, you say you believe that the cr.is a "reward" for long suffering share holders. So are we to believe that the directors got together and proposed a cr. just for our edifice and their best philanthropic intentions? Surely the only way to reward long suffering investors is to get some form of product or deal up and running and to this end it appears that they are divesting their energy from the main goal."
What I wrote was, "...this forms a last chance "reward" opportunity for all existing holders and management to load up before announcing any anticipated material deals", so there is not nessessarity any "philanthropic intentions" by management in what has been proposed - If management are indeed in possession of any sensitive information which is not yet known, this is one of the only legal forms of trading in company shares which they are eligible to participate in - By inviting ALL shareholders to participate under exactly the same conditions.
If the company were serious about raising more funds they could've annouced a SPP which is different to a rights issue as it allows all shareholders to participate for a maximum of up to $15,000 even if they own only 1 share, and further no prospectus needs to be lodged with ASIC. A rights issue is directly related to the number of shares that a shareholder owns, e.g. a one for five offer allows the share holder to buy one OBJ share for every five shares they already own.
If you own 5m OBJ shares as at the record date you will be able to apply for 1m more shares @ $0.015ps = $15,000
I would estimate that out of the 3,450 holders of OBJ shares less than 50 would be holding more than 5m ordinary shares in the company today, so clearly a Rights Issue is intended to reward existing s/holders based on your current holding. Whether it's the boards intention to reward "long suffering s/holders" one can only speculate without a crystal ball - I'm just searching for reason when imo the board clearly do not require any immediate injection of cash? ____________________
Hi Desco,
"When holders want an E.G.M. to make changes they will have my millions behind them
Respectfully, as I understand you are not permitted to respond within the next seven days, one of my key investment criteria requires stability in management. If you were to get your wish for outing GD (or JE) at anytime in the foreseeable future I would sell my entire holdings on market - I've done this before, as recently as last year with PIE when the resignation of its Chairman, Justin Milne was announced on February 6, 2012, and believe me the result was quite ugly.
Imho, when a company is on the verge of big things, company director's simply do not leave for any given reason - From where I'm sitting with OBJ right now if any director was voted out by OBJ shareholders this could prove to have a significant detrimental effect on current negotiations, and based on Glyn's background, he is certainly no exception to this rule.
In this thread you wrote, "if the euro patent is granted on tuesday and if we get a licencing deal quickly, which I doubt but when we do then the persons who purchase the rights issue shares stand to make a lot of money. now if that aint manipulation I dont know what is."
You may wish to call it whatever you like Desco, but the fact of the matter is, even if our directors have already been informed that one of OBJ's partners plan to announce a $100 million dollar licensing agreement proceeding the EPO formally announcing the grant of our dermaportation patent, a Rights Issue inviting all existing s/holders to participate is one of the very few legally accepted ways persons in possession of sensitive information are permitted to trade in company shares.
In regards to the man you would like to see voted off the board, a simple google search will provide a couple of silly articles stating things like, OBJ director Glyn Denison, who cut his public company teeth at ticketing group ERG written by an editor who himself has cut his own public teeth on a number of occasions with 'absurd' comments like, "OBJ has been working with an unnamed company, absurdly initialised in OBJ's market releases as an FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) company"
What the editor failed to mention was that after working for Westfarmers, Glyn founded the ERG Group taking it from a small Perth company with ony 10 staff, entering a collaboration agreement with Nokia and turning it into a global enterprise with 18 offices in 12 countries around the world with over 1000 staff researching, developing and implementing smart card transport systems across the globe.
This is a story of the transformation of a small Perth-based technology company into a global business researching, developing and implementing smart card transport systems around the world.
In 1997 Energy Resources Group (ERG) had about ten employees but was making very little money. In the same year the company acquired a small Perth-based business that manufactured fare collection products and was interested in smart card technology. ERG became a fare collection and telecommunications business and formed an alliance with the Finnish company Nokia. Together they worked on projects for Optus Communications, Bell South NZ and Telstra. ERG also developed and operated the Met ticketing system used on Melbourne buses, trams and trains.
ERG group established an international reputation in smart card technology when it designed and implemented the ?Octopus? system in Hong Kong. Launched in 1997, it processed over 6 million transactions per day. Using a single card, passengers could travel by bus, ferry, light rail, heavy rail and underground services provided by 30 operators. The "Octopus" card could also be used to make purchases at food and leisure facilities, vending machines and telephones. To use a card a customer just wiped it, or their wallet, past the reader and the fare was deducted from the value on the card. The system was faster than inserting a ticket into a reader and eliminated the need for cash. Hong Kong was the first place to adopt widespread use of smart cards, and the system became a model for other cities around the world. At the end of the century this was the largest fully integrated smart card ticketing system operating in the world.
ERG won many awards for its work including the 1998 Sesames Award for the Best Smart Card Application, and the Business Asia 2000 Award for Best Use of Australian Technology in Asia. In 2000 ERG won an Australian Technology Award for Excellence in the Commercialisation of Technology.
ERG continued to design and implement similar smart card transit systems in Berlin, Rome, San Francisco, Manchester, Singapore and Toronto in partnership with other companies such as Motorola. By June 2000, ERG had become a global business with over 1000 employees and 18 offices in 12 countries across 4 continents. In 2001 it was part of a joint venture awarded the contract to convert Sydney's public transport system to smart card use.
One important ingredient in ERG's success in Australia and internationally has been partnership with other companies. These partners were able to provide skills, knowledge and resources to complement those of ERG. At the end of the century the company was spending 8-15% of revenue on R&D, and its main offices and R&D were based in Perth, Western Australia. The company had successfully adapted to market needs by focussing on its expertise in smart card applications. - A Century of Innovation
Residing in Hong Kong Glyn had helped build ERG Transit Systems into a world leader for automated fare collection (AFC) products. He heped to develop the world's largest integrated contactless smart card fare collection system in Hong Kong, known as Octopus. Through his companies alliance with Motorola, it also won major smart card based fare collection contracts in Berlin, the Netherlands, Rome, San Francisco and Singapore.
What went wrong in 2006 after Glyn was appointed to the board of OBJ in February 2006?
July 12, 2006 SMART-card and fare collection company ERG has given up the fight to protect its core software, having agreed to drop its action against Octopus Cards in Hong Kong for infringement of its technology.
Although investors actually boosted ERG's share price almost 1c to 8.6c yesterday, it looks as though the deal will result in ERG having to compete against its own technology around the world.
During the day, ERG shares reached a 52-week low of 7.6c before rebounding.
In a note to the stock exchange yesterday, ERG directors said they now acknowledged that the Octopus clearing house system - the core of any fare collection and cash allocation system - did not infringe ERG's intellectual property rights.
This is a major concession which means Octopus will be free to offer the clearing-house system in any fare collection contract it tenders for around the world. It will also make it harder for ERG to claim its systems are any better than the competition's when it tenders for new contracts.
The problem arose in 1997 when ERG won a contract to jointly design and install an advanced fare collection system in Hong Kong. It was a particularly challenging deal in that it had to bring together numerous public transport operators, including bus companies, ferry companies and rail operators.
Since that time, Octopus has claimed to hold rights over the clearing-house system, which is now at the core of perhaps the world's most successful contactless smart-card system.
The Octopus installation in HK is a model system, with the cards able to handle not only public transport but parking meters, convenience stores, service stations and even building access.
Users recharge the cash value of the cards from add-value machines at street level or over the counter in shops.
Octopus has recently teamed with the French group Thales to jointly bid for fare collection contracts, and has won a deal to install a system in the Netherlands.
In contrast, ERG has found large contracts impossible to win in recent years. In Melbourne, one of its flagship sites, it lost the main contract and was awarded only the maintenance contract. - Source
I think it's fair to assume that Mr Denison would understand more that anyone the true value of protecting a company's intellectual property portfolio, and maxising its value through the application of Field-of-Use licensing.
The Octopus card is recognised internationally, winning the Chairman's Award of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance's 2006 Global IT Excellence Award for being the world's leading complex automatic fare collection and contactless smartcard payment system, and for its innovative use of technologies. According to Octopus Cards Limited, operator of the Octopus card system, there are more than 20 million cards in circulation, nearly three times the population of Hong Kong. The cards are used by 95% of the population of Hong Kong aged 16 to 65, generating over 12 million daily transactions worth a total over HK$130 million. - Source
OBJ Price at posting:
1.6¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
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