By NZPA
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Wednesday 12th June 2002 |
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Paddy Marra is director and sole shareholder of Pisces Holdings, which has taken a 19.79 percent stake. He was formerly corporate general manager of Brierley, now BIL International, and was a key witness in the winebox inquiry which looked at companies' tax avoidance schemes in the Cook Islands.
Yesterday, the Lim family, 56 percent stakeholders in Seafresh, announced it had sold almost all its shares to four unnamed investors.
This morning, the Stock Exchange was given the names after the Securites Commission said it was concerned they had not been revealed. In addition to Pisces Holdings, they are Kooiman Investments (19.79 percent), percent), Balmoral Investment Trust (14.48 percent), and Kate Foot (1.89 percent).
The buyers have gained their stakes cheaply -- the market values the company at $1.65 million, with a market capitalisation yesterday of 2.5 cents a share.
The Lim family sold its 36.949 million shares for 0.27c a share, retaining just 900 shares.
Seafresh shares were trading for nine times as much today, at 2.5c which is up half a cent after the news that the Lims had sold.
Securities Commission spokesman Norman Miller said he understood notices would be filed by the purchasers today, which would probably neutralise concerns the commission had yesterday.
Companies Office records show Mr Marra holds directorships with several other companies. He was unable to be contacted today. Pisces Holdings was registered with the Companies Office yesterday.
Kooiman Investments is a family-owned Lower Hutt company whose director is Michael Kooiman.
Mr Kooiman is a director of Carp Investments, which owned a derelict fishing boat tied up at Miramar Wharf for three years, creating a hazard. The boat was being used for parts to repair a former research vessel also owned by Carp Investments, which went into liquidation last year.
Mr Kooiman is also a director in Carp Plant Leasing Ltd, a liquidated company called Soil Mechanics Ltd, and Dendra Investments Ltd which has since gone into liquidation and receivership.
Fewer details are known about Balmoral Investment Trust and Kate Foot.
Seafresh was established by the Lim family in 1982, but the company has hit troubled waters in recent years, including a $6.8 million loss in 2001.
At its annual meeting in April the company was still in default of a $1.35 million loan to Harts Contributory Mortgage.
In April, James Slade, a 44-year-old Hong Kong-based merchant banker who has a half-share in Blenheim's Hotel d'Urville, made an offer of 0.27c a share, but pulled out after completing due diligence.
Seafresh fishes outside of New Zealand's 200km exclusive zone, meaning it is not subject to quotas. In March, 2000 the company lost a boat, sunk near the Chatham Islands, following a fire. The wreck created an environmental hazard because of unwanted seaweed growing on the hull.
Mr Kooiman told NZPA that he invested in Seafresh because he believed it had a good future and that "most of the hard times are past".
The company had a couple of good vessels and, with the right management, could succeed.
"It seemed to me to be the right time of year, coming up to the orange roughy season, to make the investment and that's the approach I've taken.
"It hasn't been something that's been on the cards for a long time, it's been an approach in the last recent weeks."
Kooiman Investments did not have other fishing interests, but Mr Kooiman said he had owned factory trawlers. "I've had about eight years in the fishing industry."
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