Tinkler ordered to appear in court
He will now appear in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday or be held in contempt and face possible arrest.
On Tuesday Judge Paul Brereton dismissed with costs Mr Tinkler's claim that the examination proceedings turned into an "abuse of process".
Last Thursday, when a solicitor for Mulsanne liquidator Ferrier Hodgson, Clayton Utz partner Jennifer Ball, sent an email offering an adjournment of the first examination hearing, set down for 11am on Friday, if Mr Tinkler could prove he could deliver $15 million in cash or guarantees to Mulsanne's major creditor, Blackwood Corporation.
Blackwood initiated the wind-up over a $28.4 million debt Mulsanne incurred when it failed to complete a share placement agreed last year. The placement was of 94.7 million shares at 30¢ each and would have given Mulsanne a 30 per cent stake in Blackwood, which is 51 per cent owned by Singapore-based commodities trader Noble Group. Blackwood was the sole external creditor to Mulsanne - three other private Tinkler Group entities were owed $31,000 - and was funding the liquidator.
The court heard on Tuesday that a Singapore-based company linked to Tinkler Group, Cayenne Coal, had offered last Wednesday to buy up to 100 per cent of the shares in Blackwood at 30¢ a share.
That would put the value of the company at more than $55.5 million, subject to debt financing, on condition that the dispute over the share placement agreement would be settled, wind-up proceedings would be terminated and there would be no public examination of Mr Tinkler and Mulsanne officers Troy Palmer, Matthew Keen and Aimee Hyde.
Over Thursday Blackwood wrote rejecting the offer but said it might accept a proposal that included the $15 million payment as security.
Mr Tinkler's lawyers replied that they were "happy to try and make this work", and Friday's 11am hearing was adjourned by consent, but by 2pm the abuse of process claim was filed on the basis that Ms Ball was using the threat of examination to advantage Blackwood.
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Nathan Tinkler failed in an attempt to stop a liquidator's examination into him and three officers of his private company Mulsanne Resources. Judge Paul Brereton dismissed Tinkler's claim that the examination was an "abuse of process" and ordered him to appear in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday or face possible contempt and arrest.
A liquidator's examination is a court-ordered questioning of company officers by a liquidator to investigate the company's affairs during a winding-up. In this case Ferrier Hodgson, the liquidator for Mulsanne Resources, is examining Nathan Tinkler and three Mulsanne officers as part of wind-up proceedings funded by Mulsanne's sole external creditor, Blackwood Corporation.
Blackwood initiated the wind-up because Mulsanne incurred a $28.4 million debt after failing to complete a share placement agreed the previous year. The placement was for 94.7 million shares at 30¢ each, which would have given Mulsanne a 30% stake in Blackwood.
A solicitor for the liquidator, Jennifer Ball of Clayton Utz, emailed offering to adjourn the first examination hearing if Nathan Tinkler could prove he could deliver $15 million in cash or guarantees to Blackwood Corporation. Blackwood later said it might accept a proposal that included a $15 million payment as security.
A Singapore-based company linked to the Tinkler Group, Cayenne Coal, offered to buy up to 100% of Blackwood's shares at 30¢ per share (valuing the company at more than $55.5 million, subject to debt financing). The offer was conditional on settling the share placement dispute, terminating the wind-up proceedings and avoiding a public examination of Tinkler and the Mulsanne officers.
The officers named for examination were Troy Palmer, Matthew Keen and Aimee Hyde, along with company principal Nathan Tinkler. The liquidator handling the matter is Ferrier Hodgson, and Clayton Utz partner Jennifer Ball acted for the liquidator in correspondence.
No. Blackwood wrote rejecting the immediate offer from Cayenne Coal, but it indicated it might accept a proposal that included the $15 million payment as security. Following that exchange, Tinkler's lawyers said they were "happy to try and make this work," and the scheduled Friday hearing was adjourned by consent.
According to the article, Tinkler must appear for the liquidator's examination in the NSW Supreme Court on the scheduled day or be held in contempt and face possible arrest. Separately, an "abuse of process" claim he brought was dismissed, and an abuse-of-process claim was filed later alleging the liquidator's solicitor used the threat of examination to advantage Blackwood.
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