The Australian

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...y/news-story/4ba7e5fef6d71c35f5725902fdc49f7f

Where in the world is Peter Bond?

The one-time Linc Energy boss appears to be late in lodging paperwork connected to his significant holding in the beleaguered unconventional gas firm.
The Australian understands the company is conscious of the situation and has attempted to contact Mr Bond on several occasions — but failed. Questions have also emerged about the nature of Mr Bond’s shareholding, with fine print in listing documents lodged with the Singapore Exchange showing that a significant portion of his stake in the company was used as collateral for loans.
The vast majority of loans were made by the controversial securities loan firm, Equities First Holdings, which has been involved in a string of similar deals including with British firm Quindell’s former chairman, Rob Terry.
Linc, the Brisbane-based company attempting to commercialise underground coal gasification technology on a large scale, was once valued at $2 billion but is now worth just $S14.3 million ($13.9m). The company, struggling financially for some time, operates one commercial UCG plant, a Khrushchev-era former Soviet facility in the small Uzbek town of Angren.
The cash-strapped firm issued millions of dollars of new shares to two hedge funds — BFAM and Taconic — this month, after shareholders voted to reduce the take-up price on $200m in convertible notes issued in 2013.
Those notes would have been due next month — with $5m in cash at the bank in December, it was unlikely Linc would have been able to make that payment.
Linc’s largest holders were required to make disclosures about the size of their stake in the company after the issuance of those shares and a subsequent consolidation.
Linc raised $S6.3m from BFAM and Taconic, funds that The Australian revealed last month were circling the distressed company, immediately becoming significant holders with a stake of nearly 20 per cent between them. These stakes have now been partially sold down.
The money raised from the placement of new shares had been used largely for payroll expenses and “general working capital purposes”, Linc said.
Faced with lower resource prices and the slow realisation of significant projects in South Australia, Alaska, Texas and Louisiana, the company is now in the process of restructuring its debt.
“A number of initiatives are under way to ensure there is sufficient working capital available to address the company’s needs over the next 12 months,” a spokesman said.
Mr Bond was replaced as chief executive by Craig Ricato in 2014, and departed as the company’s chairman late last year.
But he remains one of the largest shareholders in the firm, with a 21 per cent stake reported in December, ahead of Malaysian conglomerate Genting.
However, the issuance of new shares and subsequent consolidation would have changed the size of that holding and probably required a substantial holding disclosure be made to the Singapore market.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it would not comment on “dealings with individual parties”. But it said major holders had two days to notify listed companies of any changes in holding size.
“A person is presumed to be aware of a fact or occurrence at a particular time of which he would, if he had acted with reasonable diligence in the conduct of his affairs, have been aware at that time,” an MAS spokeswoman said.
Mr Bond, who at one time owned 40 per cent of Linc, pushed for a Singapore listing in late 2013 after accusing institutional investors in Australia of misunderstanding and undervaluing the company.
At that time, Mr Bond had already used a third of his shares as collateral for a loan with Equity First Holdings, which specialises in this style of lending.
Another portion of Mr Bond’s shares, owned through Newtron Pty Ltd, were lent to Credit Suisse Equities, according to earlier disclosures.
In many cases, EFH does not hold on to shares used as collateral, under a “hedging” strategy that has seen it face court action by investors including Mexican manufacturer Grupo Empresarial Seser and the San Antonio-based Frost Bank.
EFH was thrust into the British press in late 2014 after it emerged that Mr Terry and several other Quindell executives took out loans secured by their shares in the company to buy more shares in the firm.
The EFH loan provided £8.8m ($16.5m) to the three executives. They spent just £2m on the purchase of Quindell shares.
EFH usually has no obligation to keep shares it has purchased. In the past it has pledged not to use them for short-selling purposes.
But some Linc insiders and several investors are convinced that shares used as collateral by Mr Bond were loaned by EFH to short-sellers, with the company’s share price crashing from a high of more than $5 to less than $1 when the firm was delisted in Australia.
The shares last traded at S8.9c, but have been in a trading halt since late last week as the company continues a debt restructure and recapitalisation negotiations.
Mr Bond did not respond to requests from The Australian for comment yesterday.