david tweed and co try luck on tatt's

You would be a mug punter if you cashed in your chips in gambling and lottery giant Tattersall's after yesterday's debut performance, but that is exactly what David Tweed and other bottom feeders are asking investors to do.

Mr Tweed wrote to investors before yesterday's listing offering $2.40 a share - considerably less than the $3.50 at which the stock hit the market yesterday. After peaking at $3.62 it closed its first day on the boards at $3.46.

Demand for the shares has been extremely strong, with only 105 million of a total 700 million shares available to retail and institutional investors under the company's initial public offer.

Mr Tweed is not alone. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has found a 51 per cent jump in unsolicited share offers in the past year, with Tattersall's and insurer AXA Asia Pacific the latest targets.

After consumer complaints, the watchdog identified another nine organisations that, like Mr Tweed, are sending mass mail-outs to unsuspecting investors offering to buy their shares at below-market price.

"These offers are on the rise, and investors risk losing money by selling their shares for less than they could get on the open market," ASIC commissioner Berna Collier said.

"The fact of the matter is, nobody will write to you offering you a price for your shares unless they are expecting to make money out of it."

Already this year, ASIC has accepted enforceable undertakings from Bendigo-based Ross Investments and Adelaide businessman Carmine Claudio Mercorello after they made unsolicited offers.

Professor Collier advised consumers to be suspicious when they received unsolicited offers: to look to see who the letter was from, wonder why they were receiving the offer and seek professional advice.

While some offers may be higher than the market price, the terms may stipulate that the price will be paid in instalments over many years. "The many years you may have to wait for all your instalments means you usually get far less than selling on the market," she said.