Anthony Catalano ups offer as Keybridge battle heats up

Antony Catalano has upped his offer for a contested block of shares in Keybridge Capital, as the long-running battle for the company intensifies

Media owner Anthony Catalano (centre). Picture : Nicki Connolly

Rural publisher Antony Catalano has upped his offer for a contested block of shares in Keybridge Capital from 7c a share to 7.1c a share, as the long-running battle for the company intensifies.

Keybridge managing director Nicholas Bolton announced the increased offer by Mr Catalano for 16m shares, or 8.5 per cent of the cashbox minnow’s issued capital.

The company alleges the stock was improperly transferred last March from 96 shareholders to fund manager Geoff Wilson’s WAM Active.

It has since started proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court to “rectify the breach”.

While Keybridge shares were suspended since the middle of last year, the company said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Friday that the affected shareholders had been given a perpetual right by the Takeovers Panel to have their shares returned by WAM Active.

This would enable the shareholders to sell their stock into Mr Catalano’s offer.

Keybridge said the offer was restricted to the stock “improperly transferred” by WAM Active, and compared to the 6.9c-a-share offer made by WAM Active for the same shares. Mr Wilson has been engaged in an acrimonious battle for the lowly valued cashbox with Mr Bolton, a self-styled entrepreneur.

Founder of Wilson Asset Management, Geoff Wilson. Picture: Jane Dempster

Over the last year, the Sydney-based funds manager has made four takeover bids for the company, with Keybridge rebuffing him each time.

Aurora Funds Management, which counts Mr Bolton as its biggest shareholder, has launched a rival bid.

“Keybridge provides no recommendation other than to observe that the offer is superior to the 6.9 cents offered by WAM Active,” Keybridge said in a statement.

The ASX suspended shares in Keybridge from trading following the spending of $5m in an “incomplete deal” involving Mr Catalano’s Australian Community Media, which owns The Canberra Times and a suite of ­regional newspapers.

The ASX has asked a series of questions involving the cash, which didn’t result in the issuing of shares in ACM. Mr Bolton has since decided that the $5m will be returned to Keybridge by the end of this month.

Mr Bolton established his reputation 11 years ago at the age of 26, making $4.5m from a legal stoush over the toll-road company BrisConnections. He was pitted in that battle against the likes of Macquarie Group, Deutsche Bank and Leighton Holdings. Mr Wilson, on the other hand, has been managing money for decades, establishing Wilson Asset Management in 1997.

If Mr Catalano’s bid succeeds, the non-executive director’s stake in the company will increase to just under the takeover threshold of 20 per cent.

Last February, he revealed he had paid $1.3m for a 10.8 per cent stake in the company.