Continental Coal liquidator fight
Nick Evans - The West Australian on April 20, 2016.
Continental Coal chairman Peter Landau says he has received a funding offer from overseas
Continental Coal chairman Peter Landau has made a last-ditch bid to stave off the appointment of
provisional liquidators at the one-time South African coal developer, telling the Federal Court
yesterday he had received a $US2.5 million funding offer from overseas.
The corporate watchdog is seeking to have Continental Coal wound up over allegations of a litany
of corporate governance breaches, including failure to comply with continuous disclosure obligations,
failure to have the required number of Australian resident directors and concerns that it may be
insolvent.
Mr Landau’s lawyer, Peter van der Zanden, told the Federal Court yesterday it should not agree to
an Australian Securities and Investments Commission application for the appointment of a provisional
liquidator, as it would lead to the withdrawal of the funding offer.
The backer of the financing package was not named in court yesterday and few details of the offer were
revealed. But Mr van der Zanden said if consummated, the deal — presented shortly before the hearing
began — could allow Continental Coal to buy back the remaining coal asset held by its now-defunct South
African subsidiary.
Acting for ASIC, Paul Yovich told the Federal Court the last-minute offer was “characteristic” of
Mr Landau’s dealings as a Continental Coal director, and was not the first such proposal. He said
Continental Coal had “conspicuously, repeatedly and consistently” flouted its corporate governance
and disclosure obligations and ASIC believed a liquidator would be better able to realise value from
remaining assets than Mr Landau.
“Under the current management the company has not exactly thrived,” he said.
Mr Yovich told the court Continental Coal’s affairs needed the independent scrutiny of a
provisional liquidator, regardless of the “11th-hour, fifty-ninth minute” funding offer, to protect
the market.
Justice Michael Barker reserved his decision on ASIC’s application until Thursday.
Has their been a decision?
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