Like other former and current shareholders of TON, I was shocked...

Like other former and current shareholders of TON, I was shocked in the extreme to see the announcement on 3 March that TON had been placed into voluntary administration. I am saddened for the current shareholders of TON, in particularly those with whom I have made friends after meeting in person or corresponding with over the past 3 years.

I have thought long and hard about posting on the TON forum as I don’t have the time to argue about what may or may not happen in the future and no-one, least of anonymous posters who seem to relish on the misery of others and the “I told you so” paradigm. I am amazed that one particular poster has increased their frequency of posting 10 fold now that TON is in administration. What exactly is that particularly poster trying to prove? It is like a priest extolling the virtues of a person on life support and how excited they are for the future justification of this comatose person when the doctors are ready to flick the switch to turn off life support. It would take a high order miracle to resuscitate TON and bring it back to life. Posters, it is over. Get off the TON forum and get your life back.

I really don’t know what the future holds for TON but I don’t think it will be positive. TON will not be not handed back to the directors after 30 days of administration. The administrator will enter into a compromise with creditors and sell what he can to pay off debts. The administrator will investigate and report to ASIC and the report will be published. The $200K administration fee estimate will be enough to take the administration to the second meeting of creditors in 30 days.

A VA is put in place for the benefit of creditors, not shareholders. Creditors now have control of the Company. Creditors will want to get paid in the short term and not develop the resource over the medium to longer term. The creditors will vote to enter into a Deed of Company Arrangement where this compromise with creditors will occur or vote to place the company into liquidation and appoint the administrator as liquidator.

Throughout this process, the administrator’s focus is to report to creditors and ASIC and to pay off creditors from the resources at his disposal. Should the company go into liquidation, the administrator now liquidator will have extensive investigative powers under the Corporations Act and is often the reason why creditors vote to place a company into liquidation.

It matters nought that the Company has the largest graphite and vanadium deposit in the world except to say that these tenements will at the administrators disposal to sell where he can to pay off outstanding debts.

As you can see, we are no longer holders so we do not have a vested interest. We sold mid-last year when the share price fell back to the threshold enough to pay off our mortgages and pay for a new car, all from sales of TON shares. We tried to get back in 3 times since then but the share price kept falling so bailed out for the last time in February. We loved the TON story particularly when it was run from the smell of an oily rag in the early days and AJ was buying huge chunks of the Company at 5/6/7 cents in 2012/13. The Company lost its “joie de vivre” at about the time AJ stepped down as Chairman.

We may not be the sharpest tools in the shed, but to dispose of BB the way they did in late 2015 and then to add so many top heavy managers with generous salaries and benefits did not make sense. The new management did not have the dedication and culture of the former management and seemed more interested in blaming everyone but themselves and hiding behind the skirts of professional help. After reading the rights issue prospectus, we saw nothing but debt written all over the pages.

Sorry for my negative take but that is where, IMO, the future lies for TON. I say again, we are no longer holders so we do not have a vested interest.

Please DYOR.