A number of companies were suspended from trading on the ASX last week for non-payment of their fees to the bourse operator. At least one of them, retractable syringe maker Unilife, won't be coming back.
In 2013, a Forbes article mused how it was that Unilife - run by the ever-colourful Alan Shortall - was worth $US329 million after 11 profitless years as a listed stock.
Unilife would run up another $US250 million in losses over the next three financial years before finally collapsing in a heap in April this year - more than a year after Shortall was finally ejected from the business.
It should not be a surprise to anyone other than the faithful Aussie investors who remained believer's in Shortall's dream.
"Unilife is a parable of broken promises, Keystone Kop-like execution, self-enrichment by top executives - and the triumph of story over substance," reported the scathing Forbes story.
"Shortall doesn't have any medical background. He's not a technical guy. He doesn't have a finance background," a former Unilife executive told the publication. "His position is as an entrepreneurial sales guy getting out there and selling the dream."
The remnants of that dream have now been sold off, with three of Unilife's secured creditors acquiring different parts of the business at an auction last month.
All three are still owed money despite using their loans to fund the asset purchases.
The news is worse for shareholders.
"In light of the consideration received, the company expects there will be no recovery by the company's stockholders after a pro rata payment to the company's unsecured creditors," read one of the recent ASX releases.
The only thing we know about Shortall since resigning from Unilife last March, is that he is said to be back in Sydney.
Let's hope he has not been re-united with his beloved Bentley Continental GT. It almost cost Shortall a prison sentence in 2005 after was clocked in it doing 231 kilometres an hour down the Federal Highway to Canberra.
