vizard wins tatts -my mate gets nothing

Nothing changes!!

That's rich: Vizard scores big on Tatts share float
By Christian Catalano
July 15, 2005

Steve Vizard is on a list of the social elite who scored shares in the hard-to-get $2.4 billion Tattersalls float.

While thousands of mum-and-dad investors missed out on the $2.90-a-share offer last month, documents show the embattled businessman, the former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, the Commonwealth Games boss Ron Walker, the Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger, the BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus and Eddie McGuire managed to buy shares.

Each is believed to have bought 5000 shares after being included on a "priority list" of friends and business associates of the Tatts board of directors.

In addition, the Tatts chairman, David Jones, granted the 5000-share allocation to at least seven members of the Melbourne Cricket Club committee, of which he is president.

Tattersalls last night refused to comment on individual shareholders, saying that its allocation policy had been spelt out in its prospectus documents.

The head of the Australian Shareholders Association, John Curry, said the register highlighted how difficult it was for the average investor to succeed against those with financial clout. "One would have hoped the mum-and-dad investors would have been better served. After all, a lot of them have been customers of Tatts for years and years. But when the crunch comes, the big end of town always makes sure it's looked after before the retail investors."
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Mr Curry said there were no legal measures to ensure aspiring investors were treated in the same way as the elite.

Tatts shares last traded on the stock exchange at $3.34, meaning those with shares are sitting on modest profits. However, the new register from Computershare reflects the way the Tatts ownership structure looked before the July 7 float. It is possible several of the big names on it joined the throng of investors who cashed in on the Tatts share price, which touched $3.62 on its debut.