Today I’ll try to do a write up on the management - the ABC of TON.
The A- Alan Jenks
The B – Brad Boyle, and
The C –Chris Catlow
Some of us have interacted with management, some haven’t while some like myself have partly interacted once or twice. In any case, I tried to get an idea of management to give us an idea of what to expect. I’ll try to refer to some earlier points about them by others which would give us an even better idea
A) – Alank Jenks (AJ)
The more I read about AJ, the more impressed I am with him. Perhaps, the best thing about him is his past association with a company called Extract resources (EXT)
I) Full credit to @trythree (TT) for some great comments on AJ
i) Trythree post 1
The delay in approval of LOI by SQZG has been misinterpreted by some people that the deal is off. Here are some quotes from TT.
“You're much better off comparing Triton to the last company which Alan Jenks was a major holder off and sold off to the Chinese for $8 bucks after buying in in the cents. It was bright and clear for all to see in the announcement today, when the Chinese government calls a Chinese organisation to reconsider their approach in their dealings with a western partner due the 'strategic importance' of the deal you know they mean business” – TT
“If China wants to buy Triton they will buy it, Graphite now seems just as important to China as is Uranium and Iron Ore, and for them to pay a billion dollars for a company is far from unusual. $100 million will not even come close to it, if we manage to get the plants built with all regulatory approvals, Brad, Alan and co. will only be selling at multiples of future revenue projections 3-4 times annual revenue estimates as a minimum for a guide.” - TT http://hotcopper.com.au/threads/loi-extension-pros-and-cons.2527630/page-17?post_id=15400438
TT is referring to AJ’s past association with EXT. It is a good comparion to see what could possibly be in AJ’s mind.
Trythree talks about the strategic importance of Ancuabe. “EXTRACT Resources has recommended shareholders accept a $2.1 billion takeover offer after exhausting all avenues for a possible alternative proposal.” – TT
“If you look up the EXT ticker right here on HC you'll still stumble across posters talking about how they invested in 10-20 cents range and now don't know what to do with the money the Chinese have given them.
An 8700% return - not bad. If only our Chinese friends find graphite as a strategically important as Uranium and be so generous with their money” - TT
Some good comments by TT, indicating what could happen to TON in longer run. AJ is obviously familiar with the game of being a good long term takeover target. TON with both Nicanda and Ancuabe could be a solid long term takeover target multiples upwards from here.
“China likes Africa
China likes strategic materials
Graphite = technology = future strategic importance.” – TT
“Given how under developed this project example I've provided was at point of sale, we may not even be that far away from seeing these rewards, but nonetheless I emphasise PATIENCE.” – TT
Some great conclusions by TT again indicating how TON would make a great takeover target in time.
@huckle is another TON shareholder who has confirmed what trythree has mentioned. As huckle also rightly mentions, TON could be a great takeover target
“Life long friendships are forged when journeys like this occur and meeting Alan Jenks with Stubbo in the UK a few years back was for me the greatest pleasure of this experience…….genuine blokes, not at all greedy, very knowledgable and research and network like Richard Branson…….these unassuming lads from Wolverhampton are our two biggest assets next to BB” - anton
“I enjoy dreaming, punting, believing, sharing and learning from this Industry where Sharks and Scavengers are in plentiful supply………but when you connect with the good, earthy and soul enriched people……it becomes empowering and the belief and determination of the collective can make magic happen…..for all who join in.” - anton
It might be good to read the whole thread. @king louie recently brought attention to it.
“We stayed in TON because of AJ’s example – buying and holding, buying and holding and saw how early institutions including POS exited this stock in 2012 and the determination of AJ to increase his holdings at the same time. Not surprisingly, Europe and the UK have a far better grasp of green energy and graphite which is now showing as gains for TON shareholders.” - @earlyrise
“We obviously have the buying power of three and have envolved lots of friends and family from the West Midlands and wolverhampTON who are also seeing significant returns too. This is growing by the minute and they are serious long term holders.” - @Captain Morgan
Good comments by earlyrise and CM showing how many people are positively influenced by AJ
V) My comments on all of the above
i) Takeover – AJ obviously is very experienced in the takeover game. This could be one of AJ’s longer term plans and he definitely won’t sell us short
ii)Good bloke – Anton and many others have praised him
iii) Early investor- AJ’s association with EXT shows his skills in early investing much before the market has grasped the benefits of investing, and this appears to be the case with TON too
iv) Africa- AJ has African experience and this is not unfamiliar territory at all
v) AJ’s influence in UK-investors - We already know that we have many UK investors like @Pauldola@Captain Morgan@uktrader@flogit12 etc among others. Who knows how many more are lurking around. I’ve assuming that many are here because of AJ’s influence
vi) AJ’s influence in UK – future benefits – Always possibility of attracting UK funding / investors in future thanks to his great networking
vii) Humility – I was very impressed by the fact that AJ passed on the role of Chairman to Chris Catlow (CC) recently. I’m speculating but perhaps it was done due to the fact that AJ knows that CC would probably have more influence in Australia thanks to the FMG connection. I'm very happy with both of them, nonetheless
viii) Overall conclusion on AJ – Very impressive overall and his past association with EXT gives us some ideas of one scenario we can hope for in future, in the form of takeover several multiples from here. AJ also has great networking skills and could take us all the way to production through UK investors/financiers. This is a long term cornerstone investor at his finest, and the more I read about AJ, the more impressed I am to the point that I may consider an investment just based on his association with it. Obviously, he has made a great impression on top commenters like Paul, etc. and although I’ve not personally interacted with AJ, I’d definitely give a lot of weightage to Pauldola’s opinions and if AJ has impressed him so much, that does give me even more reassurance
B) Brad Boyle (BB)
I) My own meeting with BB
I was very impressed in my 1st meeting with BB.
Like I mentioned long ago I've met BB personally at a presentation long ago. Likeable bloke, flamboyant yet humble and down to earth, approachable and there was an aura of honesty and straight talk about him. You could see he was passionate about TON (of course his huge holding in TON gives him extra incentive lol). After that meeting, I couldn't be happier to have him leading TON.
“Brad Boyle was still learning the trade after being in the legal profession and was doing the Company Sec work for us……..hasn't BB come a long way and is a fast learner to boot.” – anton
“Brad Boyle took the MD reigns and Warwick Grigor recommended the package of projects in Mozambique that are now the hottest spot on the planet for Graphite and Brad made sure we didn't dither on this chance of a lifetime in the emerging market of graphite.” – anton http://hotcopper.com.au/threads/one-for-the-old-boys.2320411/page-9?post_id=13686195
Some great comments by Anton showing BB’s commitment, ability to learn new stuff, his dedication to hard work and perseverance, his quick thinking, etc.
Some extracts of my take on that – “One of the main reasons I like TON is that BB is humble enough to be accessible to shareholders, address their concerns promptly and keep learning along the way, with the rest of us, and trying to continually improve and trying to do things in a better way
Even as I typed earlier what I wanted to see from TON in the future, BB already has those concerns in mind, and I'm very pleased to see that.
Mistakes might be made along the way but it important to have a humble head like BB, at the top willing to continually improve, ready to do things a better way etc. and make sure that shareholder interests are best served. “ - ozpolarbear http://hotcopper.com.au/threads/loi-extension-pros-and-cons.2527630/page-5?post_id=15397718
Toohug sent Brad an email with queries and thought Brad was then in Dubai, travelling to Germany, London and other countries, he still took the time to address our queries.I thought that was incredibly impressive.
(IV) Benefits for TON –
i) Day to day - Brad obviously has great soft skills and is an ideal man for the day to day operations and is the perfect man for CEO and MD. I won’t list the day to day benefits but you can just picture the benefits with the wide variety of soft skills that he possesses
ii) Relations with customers- Relations with customers is IMO going to be one of most important factors. BB would score again
iii) Legal stuff- Great to have someone familiar with legal stuff leading us as we are dealing with a lot of contracts for a lot of JV’s, partnerships, etc. and especially beneficial in the initial stages of a company
iv) Investor relations – Top class. Enough said. I think people need to meet the guy at least once and decide for themselves.
v) Ambition – We need an ambitious guy like Brad leading us because the prospects for TON are so huge that we need someone with the drive to push it through.
vi) Conclusion – A long list of soft skills and like I said, I cannot do it enough justice to explain more. Very happy with Brad
D) Conclusion So there we go folks. A lot of info above might be known to many investors but I’m sure that it would be new info for a lot of investors too.
It is always great to know who is leading the company and our ABC (AJ, BB and CC) seem like a great time with diverse skills. @Milanese68 recently commented that many TON commenters have diverse skills and put together, they are a superpower. I completely agree and I too am very impressed by the diverse pool of intellectual talent the TON forum attracts.
In the same way, AJ, BB and CC complement each other very well with a diverse set of skills that can take us to great heights – whether as a takeover prospect, long term operational company with good offtakes, vertical integration, etc. For this reason, I try not to bother too much about day to day operations as I know that these guys will take care of it.
Top comment by @Aljini some days back yet again (amazing to see such top commenters lurking around as TON investors) and as Aljini mentioned, I too would like to see CC take up a lot of TON shares as a major investor as that would make a solid impression. Apart from that, I’m very happy with the ABC of TON.
Cheers
TON Price at posting:
29.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)