For anyone who maybe interested in the recent developments.
Quintis Update
Dear fellow shareholders,
Apologies for not communicating for sometime, I’m on a ship in the pacific, communication is expensive and difficult, so further apologies if I have not responded to you.
To update you,
The Sandalwood Growers Co-op ( www.sandalwoodgrowers.org) have already been successful in agreeing with MIS growers for the 2002 & 2003 projects to be managed and harvested by the Co-op. It was a landslide vote with over 80% voting for the appointment of the Co-op and nil voting against (failure to vote counts as a "no" vote). Based on feedback from growers the Co-op are equally assured that subsequent growers through to all MIS projects and a large number of HNW investors will also agree to them managing and harvesting their investments, which will undoubtedly provide substantially better margins than the current Quintis/ administrators will be offering. If you are an MIS grower or HNW investor and haven’t been contacted, you will be shortly. The Blackrock lead receivers are seeking to stymie the Co-op and growers by taking court action over a so-called technical invalidity in the meeting notice and resolutions (which the Co-op's lawyers confirm is valid) but I understand that even if the Receiver's were to be successful on technical grounds the growers will simply correct the resolution hold another vote and move ahead. So a stalling tactic that is likely to further annoy growers.
What does that mean for you and I?
Firstly, to recap the intransigence of Black Rock and the then current Quintis board to engage in serious negotiations with the Steynton consortium which included Frank Wilson and some very high net worth backers and importantly folk with real skin in the game resulted in Quintis going to the wall. This is my opinion and although I could be wrong, after going to New York to meet with Blackrock I formed the view that the whole episode was an orchestrated ‘ stitch up ‘ that we the shareholders were going to suffer to the benefit of - other parties?
Both myself and Frank Wilson warned BlackRock that failure to engage with us would lead to a fragmentation of the Quintis assets and they would not have the ‘captive ‘ MIS trees and product they thought they would have to harvest and sell - which is exactly what is transpiring.
Make no mistake the offer/deal proposed by the Steynton consortium was credible, funded and would have resulted in a turnaround and sustainable future for ALL stakeholders - it’s a travesty in my view. I reconfirm I have no financial involvement in Steynton or with Frank Wilson, I am an independent shareholder who was appalled at the mismanagement of Quintis over the past 11 months and subsequently the aforementioned stitch up.
To come back to my first point - Where does that leave us - you and I.
My personal view is that as a consequence of the above we the shareholders will receive nothing. I do know that legal action is imminent by some shareholders against the current directors for their actions over the past 11 months including their panicked response to the alleged Galderma termination, and their rebuttal of proposals made by Steynton and others for additional capital funding in this period. I will inform you as developments arise here.
Furthermore again in my personal opinion Black Rock and other ‘interested parties ‘ including the current Quintis management will now not recoup the windfall they were anticipating from their previously described strategy and will in fact probably make a substantial loss - I hope so, their plan has backfired and good job too, although we were always going to be the casualties, now they are likely to be too.
The future.
It is my belief that the Sandalwood Growers Coop represent the best chance for the shareholders to see something out of the legacy of Quintis. Yes if the opportunity comes up it will mean capital but I honestly believe it is a good opportunity and one I trust.
I have open communication with the directors of the Co-op and I know they are very keen to provide an opportunity for both growers, and those shareholders who supported me in my efforts to save the company to benefit from the emergence of the Co-op as the new force in the sandalwood industry.
As and when I have more information I will again update you all, I’m sure you have many questions and I ask that you write to me and I will include these answers or explanations where possible in my next update.
I’m sorry my ‘take’ on Quintis doesn’t give more hope on a rescue or even good prospects of some money being returned to us all, of course I may well be wrong but this is my honest and realistic assessment
Kind regards,
John Allen
QIN Price at posting:
29.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
