Energy One takeover trauma; NSW Liberal Party plays down ICAC probe

Vaughan Busby and Sue Cato in 2013.

Shares in software company Energy One spiked on Monday after private equity firm STG pitched a buyout offer of $5.85 per share.

The story of EOL isn’t a bad one, nor has it been told in much detail.

It was started as an electricity retailer by Vaughan Busby, a former Ferrier Hodgson director and husband of Sue Cato, flak-in-a-crisis for clients renowned and obscure: Myer, Carlyle Group, PwC Australia, Poseidon Sea Pilots.

Sue Cato specialises in PR advice for clients in crisis.

EOL listed on the ASX in 2007 and, facing extinction soon after from a conflagration of forces, it pivoted to software. Ian Ferrier was on the board anyway so no big deal to restructure the business.

And that wasn’t a bad move, it turned out, with the firm going on to outgrow the Australian market and expand into Europe, which is where most of the revenue is generated these days. Clients include French state-owned rail company SNCF and DB-Netz, the rail network arm of Deutsche Bahn.

All going well, then, and yet it would appear the only EOL director opposing the STG offer is Busby, who’s been around longest and, with a 14.25 per cent stake in the company, stands to make about $25m.

That’s up more than 50x from where the share price sat when he and Cato got hitched in 2009 (and more than enough to deck the chez with a few more Hensons).

One can only surmise that his dissent boils down to value, and it sounds like there’s a couple of directors with, shall we say, other ideas about what the company’s worth.

Monday’s results point to 30 per cent compound growth over the past five years and hint at a “significant European-based account” with a client in final contract negotiations.

But with less than 15 per cent ownership, Busby’s hope of blocking the bid is doubtful, especially if an independent expert concludes the offer is fair.

He’ll be eating humble pie if that happens, perhaps with a caviar bump on the side.

High-class problem to have.

Playing it down

The NSW Liberal Party is being harangued by the state’s corruption watchdog to produce documents for an ongoing investigation.

It’s the case that revolves around The Hills Shire Council and claims (ventilated in parliament) that party officials were funnelling cash to install friendly representatives.

The purpose of this alleged grift was to help out Sydney developer and outrageous galoot Jean Nassif, who’s wanted by police and is hiding out somewhere in rural Lebanon (and still harping on like a putz).

What’s even more amusing is how the NSW Liberal Party appears to have tried to smear out its dealings with the Independent Commission Against Corruption and perhaps been less than helpful with its provision of records.

Hence the ICAC’s need to serve multiple notices on the party compelling it to produce documents.

Chris Stone, State Director for the NSW Liberal Party. Picture: Lee Hamilton

Not that members or donors would have known otherwise, given the soothing language being used in official correspondence with committee members and the state executive, some of which has found its way to Margin Call.

Dispatched by deputy state director and general counsel Dorina Ilievska, the emails state that state director Chris Stone is, rather harmlessly, “carrying out a periodic review and update” of the party records and thus requires the relevant documents. Stone himself (who announced his resignation in March and still hasn’t left) was cc’d on the email.

It was only when a sleuthy respondent called bulls..t on the query that Ilievska was finally smoked out, admitting rather suddenly to the ICAC’s involvement.

“While we are in the process of conducting a review and update of the Division’s records, we have also been served with a Notice to Produce (Notice) under section 22 of the ICAC Act,” she wrote. Aha!

The suggestion to Margin Call is that the ICAC turned the screws on Liberal HQ because of an early reluctance to co-­operate.

Then compelled to produce documents, and perhaps ­terrified of scaring the donor base, the Liberal brass dressed up their harmless need for records as a benign and boring audit. Sneaky stuff.

There are Chinese spy balloons less silly and obvious.

Magnis fake

Something truly bizarre is going on with Magnis Energy Technologies and its chair, Frank Poullas, although such oddities are as common as housedust with Frank, so that would hardly be news.

The latest reporting on Poullas noted a mere a week ago in these pages that ASIC had opened a fresh investigation into the listed battery manufacturing group. That’s after the first probe – resulting in a raid on Poullas’s home – was allegedly mishandled.

Magnis chair Frank Poullas. Picture: Britta Campion

Now Margin Call’s hearing about yet more malarkey involving someone hijacking Poullas’s account on X, the social media platform once known as Twitter.

Opened in July and marked an “official business account”, it’s been tweeting ad nauseam about the company and its offering.

Magnis spinner Alexis Carroll, of DEC PR, claims the account, uncovered by Margin Call correspondent David Ross, is wholly fake and has “nothing to do with Frank or Magnis”. Que?

“It is somebody impersonating Frank and the company; we do not know who is behind it,” Carroll said.

“Frank Poullas has confirmed that the handle @chairman_magnis is a fake account, which has now been addressed with X.”

Surely a fake would come up with spicier content than the usual company guff.

And the explanation is rather curious given Poullas’s wife, Sarah, is a follower and has ‘‘liked’’ several tweets.

Surely Frank, by now, has broken the news to her that it’s not him?

And whoever is running this gross impersonation is uncannily informed, too, publishing content that’s almost solely about Magnis and its New York-based gigafactory iM3NY.

“Super Excited that years of hard work will finally pay off for all $MNS Shareholders,” was one recent tweet.

Another showed a talent for predicting the future, spruiking an “interview to be released over the weekend” and noting the topics to be discussed. A video posted three days later, by Magnis’ official account, confirmed the content.

Perhaps its time for the fake account to rebrand itself? We’ll call them Nostrapoullas.