Ann: Consolidated Operations Group and CML Group-Merger of Equals, page-123

I disagree that they have a stronger balance sheet.....intangibles & equity accounted associates on the COG balance sheet account for almost 175m of the ~200m net assets. They have spent a lot on buying businesses and after all of those acquisitions to generate ~4m in NPAT for shareholders on Equity of 200m is pretty poor.

CGR on the other hand is generating 8m on Equity of ~45m...it's not even close.

CGR also have a 140m facility on which they pay 4.5% of which they still have more than 50% undrawn; part of the reason for this rate is the nature of the business.

COG have a much shorter term on their borrowings and are probably looking to leverage CGR's better and much cheaper funding options (not sure it works with the type of business they do). Add to that COG's commitments wrt buying increased stakes in subsidiaries going out to 2023 (pg56 of their annual report), and this is a very questionable 'merger'.

That last point alone should make CGR shareholders very concerned.....CGR did their due diligence on Capital Funding Group because they could articulate exactly the size of the business and customers they were acquiring.....I'm reasonably sure they did nothing of the same on COG and looks like at least 10 subs/associates which it doesn't fully own.....this should be a HARD NO on the MERGER