Radionet deal by Wilson
Neill
23.05.2000 - By CHRIS BARTON
Wilson Neill has sold its Radionet subsidiary to Australian
mining company Mount Conqueror Minerals for $24 million in
shares, gaining a 75 per cent controlling interest and a
backdoor listing on the Australian exchange.
Director Paul Hislop said the reverse takeover provided a
vehicle for the rollout of Radionet's wireless internet
service in Australia and a launch pad into Asia.
The share deal sees 100 million shares in Mount Conqueror
Minerals issued to Wilson Neill at 20Ac per share. The shares
were trading at 25Ac yesterday. The move is a big change of
direction for Mount Conqueror which, under Australian listing
rules, is expected to be suspended from trading today.
Mount Conqueror director Malcom Bird said subject to
shareholder approval the company would spin off its mining
assets into a separate subsidiary which would be distributed
to existing shareholders on a pro rata basis. He said it would
take about two months for the company to meet ASX rules for
relisting as Radionet.
Mr Bird said shareholders would be asked to approve two
share placements. Investors introduced by Wilson Neill would
be offered eight million shares at 20Ac a share with 40
million options at A1c exercisable at 20Ac. Mount Conqueror's
700 shareholders holding 35 million shares would be offered
two for every six shares held at A20c.
Mr Hislop stressed that Wilson Neill had only sold the
subsidiary that owned the Radionet's technology rights for
Australia. It acquired the world rights to Radionet's
technology when it bought the New Zealand company along with
internet provider Onthenet for 75 million in shares worth
about $11.1 million in February. Mr Hislop said Radionet would
compete with existing Australian wireless internet providers
Davenet and Cape Range, and believed it could offer fast
wireless access 50 to 75 per cent more cheaply than equivalent
telecommunications companies. The company would follow the
same business model as New Zealand, offering business a bypass
to fixed wireline network for fast data access using
unlicensed spread spectrum radio frequencies.
Using cash flow from its hospitality business, which
includes the Cobb and Co franchises, the company is spending
about $2 million this year expanding Radionet's mainly
Auckland network nationwide.
Mr Hislop said the Australian expansion would not affect
Wilson Neill's plans for relisting on the New Zealand
exchange, which was expected to happen in mid July. Wilson
Neill has seen significant activity on the unlisted market in
recent months trading at a low of 8c and a high of 19c. The
shares were at 14c yesterday, giving the company a market
capitalisation of just under $60 million.
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