Trans - I take your point. I am of the view that debt reduction...

Trans - I take your point. I am of the view that debt reduction via equity (ie, shifting risk to shareholders, essentially) is prudent. In the longer term, reduction in interest payments should lead to increased profits and therefore divvies, all else being equal, so I am not concerned.

I'm not sure what you mean by the acquisition pipeline being off track. GEM announced some time ago that its acquisitions strategy was being wound down. The CR was to be used for "Assisting in the funding of committed child care centre acquisitions in Australia totaling approximately $200 million that are due for settlement over the next two years." (announcement 20/2/17) ie, the acquisitions had already been committed to. It was not for new acquisitions.

I, for one, was happy with this as it marked then end of the quasi-Ponzi scheme approach to growth. That is, keep acquiring child centres to buy cash flow to service the previous acquisitions. This is the reason why ABC Child Centres failed.

I believe this company is travelling well.