VGI Partners swoop after ASIC deregisters a company owned by Corporate Travel Management boss Jamie Pherous

Just days after ASIC deregistered a company owned by a Brisbane rich lister, two blokes have caused mischief by swooping in and acquiring the entity’s name.

RUDE SHOCK

Brisbane bizoid Jamie Pherous got a rude shock yesterday at the hands of his chronic tormentors, VGI Partners.

The Corporate Travel Management boss planned to lodge the paperwork and pay the outstanding fees to re-register his private investment entity Pherous Holdings, which housed nearly 21 million shares valued at more than $500 million.

But just days after ASIC deregistered the company on March 8 for an inexplicable lack of payment of annual fees, VGI top guns Rob Luciano and Doug Tynan swooped in and acquired the entity name.

These are the same blokes who shorted the stock last year after calling out a raft of alleged accounting irregularities.

So why the latest move to snare Pherous Holdings? Just pure mischief making designed to rattle the CTM chief, who must scramble to launch a new company for the shares now under the control of the regulator.

Corporate Travel Management managing director Jamie Pherous. Picture: Annette Dew

Worse still, there are unanswered questions about the tax consequences and reinstatement process for Pherous to regain control of his personal fortune, which could take up to two months.

City Beat spies say accountants have never seen anything like it and they wonder if deregistration could trigger an enormous capital gains tax bill.

“The cost base on the shares is minimal as Jamie has been at CTM since day one. Will the ATO think he should be paying capital gains tax on a deemed $500 million share sale?’’ one observer mused.

LESSONS LEARNED

Janine Allis learned plenty about setbacks and failure before her Boost Juice business took off.

So too with Microsoft Australia boss Steve Worrall and Queensland Chief Entrepreneur Leanne Kemp, who heads up tech player Everledger.

The trio will delve into the mistakes and challenges they faced when they front up to a $150-a-head dinner at Donna Chang in Brisbane on Monday night as part of a Qantas-backed speakers series.

Janine Allis founder of Boost Juice. Picture: Richard Jupe

While Allis is based in Melbourne, where she just offloaded her home for $6.3 million, her Retail Zoo group has plenty at stake in Queensland, including the Betty’s Burger franchise network.

The former Telstra Businesswoman of the Year variously toiled over the years as a strawberry picker, Target checkout employee, nanny and a nightclub door girl.

It took at least five years for Boost Juice to turn a profit after Allis launched the business in 2000.

She became something of a household name thanks to her stint Channel 10’s Shark Tank but not all those investments worked out.

Allis and fellow shark Andrew Banks tipped $200,000 into start-up business Her Fashion Box, which was fined nearly $330,000 by the Federal Court last month for underpaying workers.

The company stopped trading two years ago and remains shackled with about $200,000 in debts.

OLD IS NEW

You might say it’s back to the future for Anthony Kramer, who has just snared the sous chef gig at newly-renovated Hayman Island.

He’s sure to feel right at home. Kramer used to work at the luxurious Queensland resort back in the day before decamping to jobs in Vietnam, Fiji and the Maldives.

Hayman Island Resort. Picture: IHG

Hayman reopens July 1 after a $100 million-plus renovation that will allow guests to indulge in five new restaurants, a new spa, kids club and a range of swish private residences.

The 400ha island, owned by Malaysian group Mulpha, copped a hammering after Cyclone Debbie in early 2017.

Mulpha hoped to sell the 166-room property for $300 million or more soon after the storm.

But they eventually changed tack and decided to keep the island, roping in London-based InterContinental Hotels Group to manage the show.