We now all know that the EMC deal was wrong for so many reasons. I am very firm on the belief that CCE were misled about the true state of affairs of EMC, however it doesn’t excuse the fact that those responsible for the due diligence were grossly incompetent, bordering on negligent.
As stated previously, shareholders that kicked in on the $16M CR were blatantly misled. There is no other way to dress this up! I suspect that CCE realised very shortly after (if not prior to) the additional acquisition of the 65% that they had bought a steaming turd. However the true state of affairs was never revealed to the market, instead we were fed distractions about Lendlease, Sumitomo, Mungari, Kemberton, SA Battery, Albany Wave Farm, Northam (white elephant) Garden Island (potential to be a stranded asset), Kalbarri (still not delivered - does anyone even know what happened to it?) In hind-site it seems like a poorly executed but well orchestrated charade!!!
When CCE realised what a load of crap EMC was, they tried to off load but we now also know that the MPower transaction stank. CCE couldn’t even pay MPower to take it initially and then it fell apart on the second attempt after a number of conditions precedence weren’t met.
The horrible situation that shareholders currently find themselves in rests firmly on the shoulders of Mr Ottaviano and Mr Davidson.
Into the future and I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would trust these guys with more money. However I am acutely aware of the predicament all shareholders find themselves in. Absolutely damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
That said, I applaud Mr Stinson for finally being honest about EMC. That is the only grace I will give however. Going back in time, the same cannot be said for Mr Fievev. The flagrant disregard to the ABC’s question on CETO 5 is damning and a dreadful insight on what the future will likely hold for shareholders.
I now believe that CCE does not deserve to be re-listed on the ASX. They have demonstrated time and time and time and time again that they cannot be trusted. As shareholders rightly pointed out, this is the space for university and venture capitalists.
It’s like CCE have gone back in time. To to do a complete 180 on how CETO 6 is going to be “delivered” at this stage is staggering. Realistically now I firmly believe that we would never see anything in the water in the next 7 years. Happy to be proven wrong but I would be extraordinarily surprised. To ever think it could be commercial in the next decade is highly, highly optimistic in my opinion. In fact it is now not unreasonable to think that it may never be commercial. The boat has sailed.
The prospectus makes for an interesting read. At least it is well detailed and honest and it sets the risks out well. It has to be though, the compliance and regulatory requirements for a re-listing after administration are extremely onerous. Rightfully so!! Perhaps also CCE have finally realised that shareholders are sick of being treated like mushrooms. I’m shaking my head at the fact that this is the first time we actually understand the numbers on GIMG.
I would be extraordinarily surprised if this re-listing gets off the ground. If it does it would be a minor miracle and if it does go as planned, I then really struggle to see how it would translate into anything meaningful in the timeframes stated. We all know how dreadful CCE are at meeting their own imposed deadlines. Past behaviour is a strong indicator of the future and CCE’s delivery track record is very poor.
I think shareholder have a real right to be extremely angry about the current situation. If people are feeling as though there has been major wrongdoing, i recommend formally raising concerns with the Administrators as they are required by law to report to ASIC on issues and indiscretions.
In my humble opinion, the odds are so overwhelming stacked against success. Putting money in is effectively just handing money to creditors. The minimum subscription seeks 5.5M (before costs) of which 25% goes straight to creditors. You may as well just make your cheque out to HFM and Asymmetrical.
Good luck, what a horrible predicament to be faced with!
CCE Price at posting:
0.4¢ Sentiment: Sell Disclosure: Held
