Recent price movement all becoming clear now. Read the...

Recent price movement all becoming clear now. Read the following


Reclusive billionaire buys into Provenco action
15 October 2006

Turnaround investor Duncan Saville has joined an elite group eyeing Provenco. Garry Sheeran reports.

Like bees around a honey pot, big-name investors and company restructure specialists are staking out positions at listed technology company Provenco, sparking speculation of further corporate activity.

Navman founder Peter Maire and The Warehouse's Stephen Tindall each have 5 per cent stakes in the eftpos systems company.

But it was the arrival of another name on the share register this month that sent brokers rushing to their calculators.

On October 2, the blandly-named General Provincial Insurance Company told the stock exchange it had bought a 5.2 per cent stake in the former Eric Watson-owned business.

A director and prime mover of General Provincial is the secretive, sometimes controversial and very wealthy company turnaround investor, Duncan Saville.

Saville, who worked for Sir Ron Brierley's Hong Kong-listed Industrial Equity Pacific in the `80s, is a founding director of local infrastructure company Infratil.
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He is also the controlling shareholder in ERG, an Australian-listed IT business with investments in electronic ticketing.

Last week, a further chunk of almost 6 per cent of Provenco shares was sold on market to a group of investors whose identities are expected to contain more "names" when made public.

The Sunday Star-Times also understands that interests associated with Saville were also keen - but unsuccessful -off-market bidders for the stock.

Had Saville been successful, he would have become the largest shareholder in Provenco, with more than twice the holding of the present largest shareholder and long-time director, Nick Gordon.

Maire and Tindall appeared on the Provenco register after buying into an issue of shares and options to raise $8.5 million for the company as it faced new growth prospects, especially overseas.

Provenco chairman David Wolfenden said at the time he was "delighted" to have the two tech-savvy investors on board, which was a vote of confidence in the company's future.

Last week, Wolfenden said he knew neither the interests behind General Provincial Insurance, nor the identity of the buyers who bought the 6% stake.

"Nor do I know Duncan Saville, or anything of his background," Wolfenden said.

But market sources were last week suggesting the Provenco board may be less than enthusiastic at the prospect of having Saville as major shareholder when major changes may lie ahead.

Saville's major corporate activities have been in Australia and the UK, where he has residential addresses.

In 2003, and after a messy corporate collapse across the Tasman, South African-born Saville was described as "the most reclusive businessman in Australia" with an eclectic swag of investments that included spectacular killings, and some real duds.

In a court case resulting from one business collapse, a NSW District Court judge said part of Saville's evidence was "obviously totally false".

In his "marked preference" for one witness's evidence ahead of that of Saville's, Justice Terry Christie said: "That is the most polite way I can put it."

Maire said that as a value investor working to salvage distressed situations, Saville often was working "at the boundaries".

Besides his Provenco shareholding, Maire owns 17 per cent of rival company Cadmus Technology, and sits on the Cadmus board.

Shortly after taking a stake in Provenco, Maire merged Cadmus with Australian IT company Intellect Holdings Group, which itself was being restructured by Saville.

Maire said Saville rarely took seats on boards of the companies he was involved with.

"He doesn't run businesses, and he doesn't seek the limelight, but he is very good at backing the right people in particular situations, and he doesn't run away from problems," Maire said.

Maire said Saville's failures were part of the nature of the business he was involved with, "and he has had some very big successes".

"He is a very wealthy man probably worth more than $1 billion," he said.

Maire said the Cadmus-Intellect Holdings merger was driven by the need for necessary scale to bid for large technology contracts.

"In this business you get global significance or you get eaten alive," he said.

Which prospect has market sources speculating on a merging of interests of the network of companies starting to emerge around Provenco, Cadmus, Intellect Holdings and ERG.

Together the companies have a combined market capitalisation of around $370m, which could quickly become $500m if synergies were realised.

Maire said: "I leave you to draw your own conclusions, but there is certainly a lot of room for us all to cooperate more."