Nick Bolton crashes out in Keybridge Capital clash with Geoff Wilson
Geoff Wilson has won his latest court fight with Nick Bolton for control of ASX-listed fund manager Keybridge Capital.
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Nick Bolton has lost his battle for control of Keybridge Capital, with funds management figure Geoff Wilson and his backers now preparing to remove him from the ASX-listed operation and with eyes on his other seats.
The NSW Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that Wilson’s manoeuvres to tip Bolton out of Keybridge in February were appropriate, after the funds management boy genius rushed to court in a bid to appeal an earlier call from the NSW Supreme Court affirming the decision.
The latest setback for Bolton leaves the High Court as one of the few forums left to attempt to litigate in to stop Wilson’s decade-long war against him.
Bolton and Wilson have been battling in courts and on the market since the late 2000s over control of Keybridge, with their feud sprawling into repeated court tangles across the ASX.
The NSW Court of Appeal dismissed Bolton’s appeal, ordering him to pay Wilson Asset Management’s costs, with sources tipping the cost of the latest tangle as in the millions.
Bolton had sought to argue his move to place Keybridge Capital in administration in February had prevented his removal.
This came after chocolate company Yowie, chaired by Bolton and controlled by Keybridge Capital, called in a $4.6m loan to the company, effectively rendering it insolvent.
But Wilson proposed to recapitalise the company in the wake of securing control in February after the intervention of Bolton’s former ally and media figure Anthony Catalano.
Bolton and Catalano had sat jointly on Keybridge’s board for nearly a decade, with the two presenting a blocking vote to Wilson’s stake. Catalano had taken up 10.7 per cent of Keybridge’s register in a bid to spoil Wilson’s first all-out offensive.
Keybridge Capital’s board is now set to meet, with sources noting directors would look at what could be done with Bolton, who remains managing director and chief executive at the firm. The putschists can remove Bolton or suspend him.
Either way, this poses a threat to him as the former markets wunderkind faces repaying a $4.95m two-year loan to a company controlled by Bolton after the businessman bought a $20m house on Italy’s Lake Como.
This is likely to see him forced to cough up another $850,000 to cover the cost of the interest on the two year loan.
Bolton is likely also to be removed from his top job at Yowie, where he is also CEO.
He was paid $US522,600 ($814,850) for the job at Yowie last year. Bolton said he would wait to see the reasons for the court’s decision on Thursday.
“It seems odd that someone from the floor at a shareholder meeting can be ‘elected’ as chairman without a vote of members.
“I’m not sure that’s correct.”
Shares in Keybridge Capital are currently suspended, but last traded at just 4.7c.
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Originally published as Nick Bolton crashes out in Keybridge Capital clash with Geoff Wilson
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