IT APPEARS having a basic grasp of market fundamentals is no longer enough for investors - at least not if they're among the long-suffering shareholders of WA junior telco Swiftel.
We've had the HOTT brains trust (with a combined IQ of 189) going over the resuscitation proposal since it was released last week and, after running out of fingers and toes, the trust has that Swiftel investors need a degree in higher mathematics.
In scrip-only deals, the custom has been for companies to give either the precise number of shares to be handed over in a transaction, or at least a likely range.
But Swiftel's explanation of the deal could have taken pride of place in a Mensa entrance exam.
The number of shares to be paid to People Tel was disclosed as a complex algebraic formula which threw the number of issued options, shares and unlisted options into the mix with a few divisions, subtractions, additions and mutiplications.
For those left bamboozled by the calculations, it appears People Tel will collect between 386.2 million and 419.4 million Swiftel shares for its troubles.
And with just 162 million Swiftel shares currently on issue, that means some pretty serious dilution for existing shareholders
