article related to bill express

The following article was posted on another message board (and I did also see it previously on hot copper I think & I have copied it here for the interest of those following BXP.

BXP is not directly affected by what is going on at ONQ, although ONQ is BXPs major shareholder.

The interesting thing is the comment made in the article that "BXP is going very very well."

Cheers,

Bendigo.

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The company that sued itself
Christopher Webb
May 6, 2007

A BRAWL has broken out at On Q, with the listed company launching litigation against one of its own directors, Peter McDougall.

On Q — which controls bill paying concern Bill Express — has issued a Supreme Court writ claiming $2,615,102 from Mr McDougall.

Mr McDougall floated On Q, or Australian Pure Fruits as it was then known, in 2000.

The statement of claim alleged that the company lent Mr McDougall $3.7 million in 2005 and that he repaid $1.4 million in February last year.

On Q said it had issued a notice of default last month and demanded that Mr McDougall repay the balance of the loan but he had refused.

Mr McDougall said yesterday, "The matter's been aired in the accounts. I say that the company owes me money, the company says I owe it money."

He said he would be defending the claim and counter-claiming.

Asked whether the matter was likely to make it into court, he said, "It would be very foolish if it did. I've attempted to have it resolved for two years. Sometimes people without a lot of experience think rushing off to court's a good idea. It's not very good for anyone, either for the combatants or for the shareholders. I would hope that it could be resolved."

The legal brawl is not the only thing occupying the minds of the On Q board.

It recently received a requisition for a meeting aimed at getting two shareholders on to the board.

They are Paul Magee, founder of VeCommerce, which was taken over by Salmat in a $30 million takeover last year, and Craig Wyllie, a son of the late Bill Wyllie, known years ago in Hong Kong as the smiling tiger.

Mr Magee said yesterday he had been asked to stand for the board by some On Q shareholders who had also owned shares in VeCommerce.

Ian Christiansen, an On Q director and chief executive of Bill Express, said of the board aspirants, "They're just shareholders who are seeking to be part of the company going forward."

He said, "It's something that needs to go before the shareholders to make that decision."

He said the On Q board had not yet decided whether it would support them.

"There are still various discussions with them and meetings with them," he said.

Mr McDougall said he supported Mr Magee's attempt to get on the board and that Mr Wyllie "ought to be pretty valuable to us if he comes with the same experience as his father", and that he had excellent business connections.

Asked whether he would vote in favour of them, Mr McDougall said, "I will be supporting independents on the board, yes."

Asked whether he would remain on the board, he said, "Yes. There might be a few people who wish I wasn't."

Mr Christiansen said the legal action related to the company's previous activities. "The company has had a transition where it was originally a food and beverage-based company with factories, of which the McDougall family are closely related. Now it's sold those factories and in the wash-up of that the company believes that there are some funds owed." He described the relationship between the board and Mr McDougall as "functional".

"Clearly there's a little bit of a challenge with regard to the outstanding money, but otherwise it's quite a functional relationship."

While board in-fighting might be negative news for shareholders, Mr Christiansen said that Bill Express was doing "very, very well. Bill Express is firing on all cylinders, it's got some very exciting products going out."

Among those who might be taking an interest in proceedings are interests associated with Lindsay Fox, who bought about 9 per cent of On Q last year at 14¢ a share.