CBD

Iemma dropped from SCG side

Former NSW premier Morris Iemma has been clean bowled from one of the country's most prestigious boards, losing his position as a trustee of the Sydney Cricket Ground after a single three-year term.

Labor stalwart Iemma was among four trustees given out on Tuesday, but the Sports Minister in the state's Liberal government, Graham Annesley, declined to give a reason for the umpire's raised finger.

"He just wasn't reappointed," Annesley's spokesman told CBD.

Also leaving the board are Paul Warren, Maple-Brown Abbott chairman John Cloney and Kaye Schofield, who is believed to have stepped aside.

Newly knighted with the flat side of a cricket bat are Harvey Norman chief executive Katie Page, rugby union figure Ron Graham, women's cricket champion Lyn Larsen and DEC Australia boss Nihal Gupta.

Chairman Rodney Cavalier's Labor roots have not stopped the O'Farrell government giving him another four years, while talkback squawker Alan Jones, Business Council of Australia boss Tony Shepherd and Test cricketer Steve Waugh also got the nod.

InnoPac offer

Former Singaporean KFC operator InnoPac Holdings has not chickened out of its takeover bid for "Diamond" Joe Gutnick vehicle Merlin Diamonds, extending its offer in a bid to mop up minorities like so much gravy.

While Gutnick glories in the triple title of executive chairman, managing director and chief executive, he is all but gone from the share register, having somewhat inexplicably sold most of his scrip earlier this year about the same time as he was recommending the InnoPac offer.

On Tuesday, InnoPac told the ASX it had acceptances for 68.27 per cent of Merlin stock. The offer had been due to close on June 28 but will now close at the end of this week.

Innopac has also extended its offer to take in $8 million in convertible notes issued to ISR Investments, a company as mysterious as 11 secret herbs and spices and registered in tax haven the British Virgin Islands.

If ISR consents, InnoPac will have more than 73 per cent of Merlin stock in the bag. While the offer is conditional on getting 90 per cent acceptance, the zinger is that InnoPac is also threatening to waive that condition, which would leave remaining minorities in a rather unhappy position.

Merry-go-round

On the face of things, Queensland Mining Corporation looks like the most indecisive company on the ASX. The market minnow, which trades under the code QMN, began the year based in Sydney but soon decided that Perth was a cheaper place to locate a company with assets in central Queensland.

Not surprisingly, the plan to find "lower overhead costs" in a city that charges $6 for a coffee did not quite pay off, and the company shifted back to Sydney in June.

During those six months, there has been a revolving door of directors and executives, with at least six leaving the company, some after serving just four months in the job.

But after all that indecision, the company is finally certain of something: it launched Federal Court action against its former boss, Howard Renshaw, on Tuesday. The argument rests on whether proper shareholder approvals were gained before Renshaw was awarded termination payments that QMN reckons were worth $677,333 in total. At its current market cap, that is more than 4 per cent of the company's worth.

This is just one of many subplots unfolding at QMN, where the husband of a large shareholder was this week appointed to act as a corporate adviser.

CBD will watch with interest to see who is in charge of QMN by Christmas, and on which side of the battle for control certain players end up.

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bbutler@fairfaxmedia.com.au