Franklin The Tate Is Prepared

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday June 14, 2007

Kate Askew

There are delusions of grandeur and grandeur of delusion, says Kate Askew.

SOME people are just naturally modest. Franklin Tate for one.

The founder and deposed executive chairman of the floundering winemaker Evans & Tate has established an insignificant new outfit, except of course that it bears the name of the great Prussian ruler, Frederick the Great Pty Ltd.

Certainly from our contact with Franklin the Great, we believe he may have much in common with Frederick of the Same.

"My people and I have come to an agreement which satisfies us both. They are to say what they please and I am to do what I please," Frederick said in the 18th century, something which could just as easily have been uttered by Franklin.

Unfortunately, yesterday Franklin was remaining coy about his plans.

"It's not doing anything at the moment, it's dormant."

He informed us that, thankfully, unlike the debt-ridden Evans & Tate his new venture "has no assets ... no liabilities".

"I was contemplating an investment that I haven't done yet," said Franklin the Tate.

Hopefully nothing like the other world-conquering deal which never got off the ground? It was Tate who agreed to sell his shares in Evans & Tate to the tiny and unprofitable Nevada-domiciled winemaker Yarraman Estate. Yarraman's output is just 3 per cent of Evans & Tate's but was going to end up with most of the company.

A summer holiday

CBD believes a plane trip to Beef Island, British Virgin Islands, is in order for diligent ASIC investigator, Jeremy Peel.

From there he can take a boat to the biggest island in the group, Tortola, which is where he's likely to have the most luck tracking down the secretive company Leominister.

(Leominister owns the two-and-half million odd shares in Graeme Kelly's Novogen, subject of the corporate plod's curiosity.)

Firstly, Tortola is a lovely place for a business trip, with idyllic sheltered anchorages such as Brandywine Bay and Brewer's Bay, not to mention the Callwood rum distillery.

Secondly, it's likely to lead to more fun confronting those stalling for Leominister.

Peel's telephone chat with Oren Hodge, who works for Leominister's island agent, resulted in this pearl of information: "There is one slight problem. Our management client has no dealings with that company."

Hodge added that Leominister "will be struck off very shortly".

The outfit may have so much cash it needs a tax haven. But Leominister's owners haven't paid their fees. The situation is so dire, the company will be struck off in November - which just happens to be the anniversary of ASIC first sniffing around the company.

At least Hodge wasn't a complete loss. He did email ASIC to say he was trying to find contact details for the owners.

We would advise not holding one's breath.

BHP goes dry

Monday evening's soiree with Marius Kloppers and the Fourth Estate was subject to Chatham House rules.

But while we can't disclose what was said, there's nothing preventing us revealing what was drunk.

Except there was no drink.

Kloppers and the wild and whacky guy he's replacing, Chip Goodyear, are teetotallers. Not only that, but at 10pm they rose to their feet and, well, left.

CBD's spies can also confirm Kloppers is definitely a vegetarian (rocket and pear salad followed by garlic laced with pasta).

Rest assured the rest of the gathering did imbibe - well, a glass of wine at least.

Chirpy chappy

Lachlan Murdoch has been reluctant to discuss the ins and outs of his new venture, Illyria. Thankfully not everyone in business with him suffers from the same reticence.

In fact Percept Holdings executive, Shailendra Singh, has been more than forthcoming on Illyria's plans in India.

So far Illyria has set up a half-owned talent agency with Percept. We presume it was a precursor to more serious ventures because, of course, Murdoch has to play about the edges until his non-compete clause with Dad's company is up in August.

One of those more serious ventures, a film company, could be finalised just about when the non-compete is over.

"There are other such ventures in the pipeline," Singh told India's Financial Express. "In fact, Lachlan may buy a 30 per cent to 40 per cent stake in another Percept group company, the Percept Picture Company. The talks are actively on."

According to Singh, Murdoch is just the kind of guy a business would want to get into bed with.

"The tie-up will provide us a global platform and, we hope, also open up a window of opportunities for us in the long run," Singh said. "We would get exposure to international best practices apart from gaining a muscle from accessing Lachlan's global distribution network."

Perhaps Singh has confused Lachlan with Rupert?

Underawed

Notable as ANZ chief executive-elect he may be, but Mike Smith's current employer, HSBC, is somewhat less overawed by the impending departure of the head of its Asian business.

The London-based global banking empire's corporate website reveals not a skerrick on Smith's resignation.

Perhaps, we thought, the loss of the man who runs an operation responsible for $10 billion of the group's pre-tax profits, at the very heart of its empire, was deemed not important enough.

Though, oddly, the retirement of the head of its French business did make dispatches.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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