Rodney Illingworth and John Vereker each had a 10% stake in Tipperary Holdings when they were apparently dismissed by 80% shareholder Allan Myers from Tipperary Station without notice in December 2007. They are disputing the ‘low’ value Allan Myer’s accountant has put on their share (valued at $5m each, in November 2007; i.e. the accountant must have been valuing Tipperary at $50m, at that time?) and Allan Myers has commenced a $45m counter attack, asserting that Tipperary was mismanaged by Illingworth and Vereker and is consequently unsaleable.
Given Tipperary’s history, it’ll be interesting to see how long the ‘mismanagement’ line of attack stands up in court.
Tipperary Station’s June 2007 accounts apparently show net assets of $140m. I could comment on that but it’d be best not to. Suffice to say that the AACo’s offer to buy Tipperary and Litchfield cattle stations in early 2009, for $105m, was howled down by shareholders (and commented on by virtually everyone in the bush, north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Similar [unrepeatable] comments have been made about RMWAH & PHI’s purchase of nearby La Belle and Welltree stations for more than $70m, from Peter Camm).
Allan Myers has a vast range of investments, ranging from the Polish brewing company Grupa Zywiec, Swiss finance-related company Norinvest Holdings and Danfoss Turbocor Compressors in the U.S.; to large stations in WA’s Kimberley region and valuable holdings at Dunkeld, Victoria, which include the Royal Mail pub and conference centre as well as farmland. The value of his assets has been estimated to be around $720 million.
So one can only presume that the stoush is over a matter of principle, not because he actually would miss a million or two.
John Vereker and Rodney Illingworth were replaced as managers by David Warriner (son of Ken Warriner; 10% shareholder in CPC, with Terra Firma).
The trial is set to start in April 2011 and take approximately 2 months.
A quick poke around the internet turns up some interesting history regarding these three blokes – Allan Myers QC, John Vereker and Rodney Illingworth. Of course it is sheer co-incidence that former Tipperary cattle station owner Warren Anderson had a ‘colourful’ history with the law and media, as well as former neighbour Peter Camm. Allan Myers, Warren Anderson and Peter Camm are all known for being obsessively ‘private’. And grumpy.
It’s impossible to resist speculating on just how much is not publicly known, with regard to past business activities of those involved in the Tipperary cattle station valuation dispute. For example, with the Australian Tax Office, and a company registered in Antilles. It’ll be fascinating to see what comes out in the court case next year. Hope they don’t reach an out-of-court settlement first.