Lang Walker set to gain Inabox stake

Walker on a winner as Siimon says sell

PROPERTY billionaire Lang Walker is set to end up with a sizeable chunk of 80s adman Siimon Reynolds’ telco, Inabox, provided it can get away its takeover of rival Anittel.

Inabox has made an all-scrip offer for Anittel, where Walker is the second-biggest shareholder after entrepreneur Peter Kazacos.

The deal has been described as “not fair but reasonable” by independent expert RSM Bird Cameron — not because there are too many vowels in Grim Reaper Reynolds’ first name, but because the offer doesn’t include a control premium despite handing 30.7 per cent of Inabox to Anittel.

That doesn’t seem to worry anyone, mainly because the scrip is to be immediately passed on to Anittel shareholders. Kazacos, who has 34.41 per cent of Anittel, will end up with 10.6 per cent of Inabox; Walker, who has 14.85 per cent of Anittel, will get 4.57 per cent.

The deal needs approval from shareholders of both companies.

Indian adventures

WHAT is it with India and the Pratt family?

Anthony Pratt has been spending a bit of time on the sub-continent in recent months, with a trip there with Tony Abbott a few months back, and earlier this month he announced a big partnership in Delhi with Israeli president Shimon Peres and an Indian not-for-profit group to help Indian farmers.

Now it seems his brother-in-law Raphael Geminder — whose Pact Group had a tangle with Pratt’s Visy Group over the packaging contract for drinks giant Lion in September — has caught the Indian bug.

His wife Fiona Geminder, who is also a shareholder in Visy Group, celebrates her 50th birthday next week. And where is he said to be taking her? India — one spot in the world she has apparently never been.

Celebrity trial

IT could be a star-studded turn-out when former TZ Limited boss Andrew Sigalla comes to trial in Sydney.

Sigalla is charged with ripping off the struggling TZ, which makes electronic postboxes, to the tune of more than $6.7 million, most of which went to pay gambling debts to his bookie, Tom Waterhouse.

Yesterday, he was committed to stand trial on the 24 charges, which each carry a penalty of up to five years in the big house and a fine of up to $220,000.

Perhaps the court will hear from Mr Waterhouse? Another person who might have an interesting tale to tell is the bloke who took over after Sigalla, Celebrity Apprentice star Mark Bouris. It was he who had TZ pursue Sigalla over the lost dough back in 2011. At the time, the case was settled before coming to court, depriving shareholders of an explanation of what had gone on during Sigalla’s reign.

Tangled in the web

GREG Medcraft’s mob at ASIC are lost — or at least, not found easily enough.

The corporate regulator is in the market for a search optimisation outfit to help guide people to its consumer website, MoneySmart.

Margin Call found MoneySmart easy to find on Monday; Google “financial advice” and there it is, the top result, just below an ad for Ian Narev’s scandal-ridden Commonwealth Bank.

But according to tender documents lodged on Friday, this is all the more reason to spend more money.

Margin Call is sure that the fact a search for Medcraft returns a clutch of news stories referring to his now semi-retracted remark that Australia is a paradise for white collar crims has nothing to do with it.

ASIC told potential tenderers that “SEO activity and organic search now underpin MoneySmart’s traffic growth”, with the vast majority of traffic — more than 70 per cent in some months — coming from search results. The winning bidder is required to have at least 15 years experience and a track record of success with doing SEO for Australian government entities (does ASIO use SEO?).

But if you’re from Darwin or Toowoomba, apparently ASIC doesn’t want your help. The selected tenderer must be based in Sydney. Internet? What internet?

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