Franchise Retail Brands IPO

Headlines being made for all the wrong reasons already by managements new venture

http://www.couriermail.com.au/busin...y/news-story/946685347080a35dc617bad54c800599

NEW RETAIL FLOAT

A NEW retail group in Brisbane has well-advanced plans to raise between $15 million and $20 million in a public float by the end of the financial year.

Sean Corbin, a former head of Allied Brands, now runs Franchised Retail Brands Limited and soon hopes to have at least five well-known outlets under his wing.

It’s all very hush-hush but City Beat spies report that the retailers expected to take part include the well-known Shingle Inn chain, the New York Slice pizza group and Raw Energy cafes.

It’s understood that NBC Capital boss Bruce Scott, fresh from presiding over the crash of Eagle Boys, has reached out to offload his Degani coffee network.

Scott, who did not return a call yesterday, has previously denied NBC plans to get rid of the cafe group.


Sean Corbin
Corbin said yesterday that a draft prospectus was in the works but it was “way too premature’’ to talk about specifics.

He declined to reveal which broking house was underwriting the IPO and he said “confidentiality agreements’’ prevented him from talking freely about the retailers joining him.

Corbin stepped down last month as CEO of little-known Brisbane resources outfit LWP Technologies, which is chaired by Siegfried Konig.

Records show Konig and Corbin registered Franchise Retail Brands in August and both served as directors but Konig has since resigned from the new entity.

That followed an embarrassing slapdown last month by the ASX, which alleged LWP had breached listing rules by investing $500,000 in a related party, namely Franchise Retail Brands.

LWP disputed the allegation but clawed back the money anyway.

It’s probably just as well, since LWP suffered a $6 million net loss last year and $6.4 million of red ink in 2014-15. Auditors have also flagged a “material uncertainty which may cast doubt over the group’s ability to continue as a going concern’’.