re: ferret's stock to watch I bought more shares today as the...

re: ferret's stock to watch I bought more shares today as the price fell below $3 for the first time. That "ferret" has a reasonable track record over the years.

I am gambling with money that I have made from the stock market over the years, that I can afford to lose.

Archives indicated that Rattoon Holdings did offer up to $3.30 per share prior to the IPO.

Rattoon owns 6,663,834 shares in TTS (page 78 of Annual Report).


Chance to share in Tatts cash, buy George
By Christian Catalano, The Age
October 24, 2003

Sharemarket punters will for the first time be offered a slice of the riches of Australia's largest private company, Tattersalls Holdings.

The opportunity comes after investment group Rattoon Holdings yesterday paid $4.29 million for a further interest in the Estate of the Late George Adams (Tattersalls) after a capital raising.

Rattoon - formerly known as Phoneware, a public company that collapsed last year - had already bought $3.1 million worth of entitlements in the Tatts estate through a separate raising in July.

It is putting together a new prospectus and will offer up to 80 million new shares for 25¢ each through an entitlement offer to existing shareholders. It hopes to relist this year.

Rattoon director Hugh Robertson said it was a great opportunity effectively to own a piece of an Australian business icon.

"Tatts is a great business, a great franchise and a great name," he said. "(We) just thought it would be really interesting to have a company holding Tatts listed on the ASX."

With the marketing software assets of the failed Phoneware sold in April, the $7.3 million Tatts entitlement is the only asset of the new company, Rattoon.

While the entitlements would deliver a yield of about 8 per cent to Rattoon, Mr Robertson agreed that little else was known about the staunchly secretive Tattersalls business.

"They don't exactly smother their beneficiaries with information, but plenty of good companies aren't big on what they disclose," he said.

"There will be some (investors) who don't mind that and some who say 'unless we know what colour undies the managing director is wearing we won't buy the shares'. But so be it."

The $7.3 million worth of entitlements, bought from other beneficiaries of the Tattersalls estate, will give Rattoon less than 0.5 per cent of the gambling giant's annual payout.

But Mr Robertson, who is also a small-cap broker with Bell Potter Securities, said Rattoon would be "an ongoing buyer" of the Tatts estate if similar opportunities arose.

A spokesman for the Estate of the Late George Adams said the group "wasn't troubled at all" by Rattoon's plans to go public with its interest in Tatts.


Rattoon Holdings, an investment company backed by Ron Brierley, has offered $100 million for 5 per cent of Tattersall's in an audacious move to increase its stake in the gaming giant before its proposed float.
The Financial Review 12/04/2005


Ron Brierley-backed Rattoon Holdings has failed to secure $100 million worth of Tattersall's shares from its secretive beneficiaries, falling spectacularly short of its target after being frustrated by a mystery bidder.
The Financial Review 25/05/2005



The Ron Brierley-backed Rattoon Holdings will make a final grab for shares in lotteries and pokies group Tattersall's before its $2 billion float next month, calling for interested beneficiaries to nominate a sale price for the extremely scarce stock.
The Financial Review 06/06/2005


WHEN you get such cagey and experienced players as Sir Ron Brierley and the Pratt family's Alex Waislitz circling Tattersall's, you know that they must have a game plan. No one connected with the $2 billion float, however, seems to have a clue what it might be.
The Age 08/06/2005


Tattersall's beneficiaries who spurned a recent $100 million bid for their stakes in the lottery operator will get another chance to cash out before the company's public listing next month - but their cold feet could cost them dearly.
Sydney Morning Herald 06/06/2005


The Ron Brierley-backed Rattoon Holdings' second tilt at a major stake in Tattersall's ended with a whimper last night with only 3 million shares in the soon-to-list lottery operator confirmed for acquisition.
Sydney Morning Herald 09/06/2005