Mate I didn’t, but as a significant shareholder, I spent months trying to convince John Corr not to take it into administration right up to the day before the final meeting. Here’s a guy in a conservative income fund , happy to take his 10% interest which AZZ had never defaulted on even through the GFC , then suddenly oil goes from $120 to $20 and everyone cry’s crook . They did have an on market buy back for the notes at $2.00 which no one sold into because they were happy with there 10%. Aurora as the main note holder had about as much knowledge of the shale industry as I have of sowing clubs. They just wanted the yield.That was a big part of the problem. He had convinced other big noteholders that they would get their money back . What he didn’t mention was that Aurora was under extreme duress, google their latest developments, they can’t even afford to pay out redemptions. Sadly their was always another motive. I know JC is no saint but for him to get any value from his 12m shares , he had to preserve the asset AND PAY OUT Noteholders. They were offered better terms , sure it involved an interest free period , but better conversion at lower price.
What shits me is that it would have been us equity holders that would have had to raise $4/5m to keep the leases going but I would have done it. There was no downside for noteholders other than delayed interest but the face value of their notes remained.
20000 acres in the Permian even at $10k an acre would be $200m US now, noteholders no interest for a bit but 100% pay back of capital.
But of course we had Florence in Nightingale, I’m sure you no who I mean , right up there on his high horse professing his impeccable integrity, convincing everyone of this wrought . How dare a MD struggle when his primary assets have just dropped from $120 to $26 and try to pull off any sort of deal that would have bought time . It’s all done now, but had TT100
Not proclaimed himself the protector of the world and rang tha ASX , we would all have been better off . Enough said
AZZ Price at posting:
$7.50 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
