The AustralianApril 22, 2008 02:06am AESTTHE AUSTRALIAN Business...

The AustralianApril 22, 2008 02:06am AEST
THE AUSTRALIAN
Business



Conquest claims ANZ pre-empted rulingFont Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print Susannah Moran | April 22, 2008
ANZ is believed to have sold the 15 million Conquest Mining shares it was holding, after a ruling by the NSW Supreme Court on Friday allowing it to do so.

It is understood one broker who put in a bid for the shares was told by the bank yesterday that a deal had already been done.

Conquest Mining managing director John Terpu said he was working in conjunction with the broker for a company-advantageous bookbuild.

Mr Terpu had owned the shares, more than 5 per cent of the company, that were lost as part of the Opes Prime fallout.

He is suing Opes and ANZ in the NSW Supreme Court.

He gained an injunction stopping ANZ from selling the shares, but that was dissolved on Friday.

"If the injunction is lifted (Mr Terpu) could buy the very same shares that he is talking about," lawyers for ANZ told the court during the proceedings.

Mr Terpu said yesterday that he was concerned ANZ had already decided, before the court action was resolved, to sell the shares to Gold Fields, which would then hold 19 per cent of the company.

"Gold Fields (had previously) called me and said they were interested and they had given instructions to buy the position for them," Mr Terpu said. "ANZ said that I could buy the shares, but I could never buy the shares if they had already been sold.

"My concern is that when the injunction was lifted on Friday, had the position been pre-sold to Gold Fields by ANZ? And would there have been a different outcome."

By close of business yesterday the share trade had not appeared on the ASX website.










.