Hope AB is getting some good advice for our Coal EPC from one of...

Hope AB is getting some good advice for our Coal EPC from one of his AEC directors - Nathan Tinkler - he's listed under AEC's Corporate Directory as a director.......this article appeared in Jan 08.... also hope he cashed in some of his $200m shares in Macarthur Coal....!!!

From coals to foals

One question is racing through Australia’s $1 billion thoroughbred racing industry right now – who the hell is Nathan Tinkler?

At the Karaka Premier yearling sales in Auckland on the weekend, Tinkler, who is just 31 years old, spent more than $NZ5 million on 16 yearlings for his new Hunter Valley stud operation, called Patinack Farm. His purchases included the highest-priced filly offered at the sale, a $NZ925,000 yearling by One Cool Cat out of Diamond Cashel.

Tinkler is hardly a household name in the mining sector and before last weekend he was largely unknown in the racing game. But Tinkler’s story is another great example of how the resources boom has created a new generation of wealthy entrepreneurs.

Up until early this year he was the managing director of Newcastle-based coal mining company Custom Mining. The company is described as a relative newcomer to the resources industry and its first big deal was signed in late 2006, when it bought the Middlemount coal deposit in central Queensland for $15 million.

Six months later, Custom went ahead with its plans for a mine at Middlemount. It awarded $500 million and $65 million contracts to engineering and construction firms Leighton Holdings and Sedgman in June last year in preparation for the project to commence in August 2007.

But on December 10, Queensland coal independent Macarthur Coal announced it had acquired Custom Mining and its 70 per cent stake in the Middlemount project for $275 million ($65 million in cash, $200 million of Macarthur Coal shares and another $10 million of shares in March 2009 subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions).

It is not clear exactly how much Tinkler owned of Custom Mining (attempts to contact him through Patinack Farm and Custom Mining’s Brisbane office were unsuccessful) but it is understood he held at least half of the company. Whatever the size of his stake, Tinkler’s Middlemount investment was a masterstroke. Now he’s enjoying some of the spoils.

Tinkler is not entirely new to the racing industry – his father owns a stud at Port Macquarie and they have both raced horses for some time, although neither has won a major race. But the scale of Tinkler’s push into thoroughbred racing has surprised many in the industry. On top of his purchase of Patinack Farm (for a rumoured $8 million) and his Karaka splurge, Tinkler has recently purchased brood mares at a sale in France (including one that cost €1 million) and a half stake in stallion Casino Prince for an undisclosed price.

Tinkler's big spending is no guarantee of success on the race track – thoroughbreds are notoriously fragile and expensive animals who often fail to follow the best laid business plans. But the emergence of such a wealthy and determined investor will help cheer the racing industry, which is still recovering from the outbreak equine influenza last year.