Mfs Reveals 17% Stake Exposed To Margin Calls
The Age
Wednesday April 2, 2008
SHAREHOLDERS in beleaguered financial services company MFS, now known as Octaviar, face the disruption of margin calls over up to 17% of the company's shares when the company finally resumes trading.
Octaviar yesterday released details of margin loans over the holdings of a director appointed last week, Chris Scott, stating he had a loan of more than 17.2 million shares, or a 3.6% stake, in the company. Mr Scott holds an additional 5.2 million shares in Octaviar. Octaviar also took the unusual step of releasing information about possible margin loans held by the former managing director Michael King and a former joint managing director, Philip Adams.Octaviar said that Mr King, who founded the business and presided over a disastrous conference call that sent the shares into a spiral, held a 6.7% stake in the company. The company said Mr Adams held a 6.5% stake in the company, but was unclear about the margin loans held by Mr King or Mr Adams. "Based on information provided by brokers, the company understands (the men) have margin loans secured against some or all of their shareholding in the company," Octaviar said in a statement. The additional details about Mr King's and Mr Adams' holdings are believed to have been provided as a result of informal queries from the Australian Securities Exchange. MFS shares have been in a trading halt since January 23.
© 2008 The Age