This was published 15 years ago
Maestro finds a new pitch
Michael Evans knows a comic-tragedy in three parts when he sees one.
By Michael Evans
IT DOESN'T take a Rhodes scholar to figure out when you're not wanted any more. Or does it?
Gordon Fell has walked the plank as chairman of Opera Australia, citing the "current demands of his own business interests".
Odd, we didn't think Gordy had any need for business interests any more. Or that they'd be too demanding. After all, how long can it take to count the coin from the sale of his Rubicon assets to Allco Finance for $28.7 million? And how long can he stare at the harbour from his Point Piper waterfront pile, purchased with the Rubicon proceeds for $28.6 million?
Still, with Opera Australia experiencing its own ructions, it can't be too helpful having a chairman attracting attention for his links to the collapse of Allco.
Such a shame given Gordy's term had a while still to run.
While there were fears the opera company was sinking into an "abyss of mediocrity", we suspect Allco shareholders would have settled for that over the alternative.
Ziggy Stardust will step in to search for more upmarket cred.
Loyalty test
Nicholas Moore is an inventive chap, always on the lookout for new ways to do a deal.
So hats off for the latest capital raising that's come in the form of passing around the cap.
The bank might be lopping heads left and right but it's still asking staff to join its employee share plan. Perhaps it's a positive sign about your future if they accept your application.
With nearly 6400 staff eligible at MacBank - less a rough, ooh, 20 per cent they appear to be culling - at $1000 a head, that would make an easy $5 million or so in very cheap equity, assuming Macquarie makes them all take part. Oh, and while we're on the MacBank cuts, more mutterings from within the walls of Martin Place that Macquarie told contractors yesterday they will be finishing up on January 2.
Ties that bind
Have we met?
That's the beautiful thing about corporate advisory.
You get paid for putting things together. You get paid for pulling things apart. And should you ever get bored, you can just swap partners.
Ask Macquarie and UBS, the chief advisers to the failed buyout of Qantas last year.
Back then Macquarie was advising the MacGroup-led consortium and UBS was holding Margaret Jackson's hand at Qantas. But there's so much more fun to be had playing the field.
Imagine our delight to spot that the advisers on the Qantas tie-up with British Airways are in fact the same old troupe.
When the music stopped this time Macquarie, having learnt so much about Qantas from the outside, jumped the fence to advise the airline.
Clearly, Macquarie has bought a new fax machine to process bid acceptances.
And Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford has close links to Macquarie from his Rio days.
Meanwhile, it's good to see Qantas lobbyist David Epstein has been working the phones. The PM's former adviser is only a few weeks in the gig and already has secured agreement for a lift in the foreign ownership cap.
Playing the game
It's a good thing Kerry Stokes didn't want to run the board of West Australian Newspapers when he started rattling the cage this year. Because if he did, we'd have no idea how to describe the sudden departure yesterday of three independent directors who opposed his election earlier this year. Out, too, went boss Ken Steinke.
Still, board renewal is important. And with their departure, Stokes is already looking like one of the more experienced chaps on the board. Perhaps he'll just end up chairman by default.
At least Steinke was prepared. At a briefing back in March, analyst Roger Colman pointed out a certain fluidity of management at Seven after Stokes began creeping up its register in 1996.
"There's been six managing directors in Seven Network television, before [David] Leckie arrived, in eight years. I hope you have got a parachute."
For outgoing chairman Peter Mansell, though, there's a silver lining. Now he can spend a bit more time with his other smooth-running directorship, OZ Minerals.
The first replacement independent director is Graeme John, who by coincidence is a director of the AFL, which by coincidence is broadcast on Stokes's Seven.
Anyone doubting Seven runs the WAN show might note the WAN statement announcing the resignations contained contact details of Seven spokesthing Simon Francis.
Going, going …
Forward indicators, quant analysis and now the bogan index. The Goldman Sachs JBWere institutional trading desk has been collating a "toys index" to note the state of the sliding economy, dubbing it the "bogan index".
Patrick Crabb has been trawling the classifieds and reports a troubling surge in toys for sale. Since they started the index six weeks ago the biggest jump in listed toys has been classic cars and personal watercraft. "There has been another increase in jet skis for sale, with an additional 46, or 7 per cent, available."
Last week, the big movers was mini-bikes and go-karts, with an increase of 114, or 11 per cent.
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