Been doing some more digging into the court case curretly at...

Been doing some more digging into the court case curretly at hand between BMG & ASI. At the bottom of this post are the links so that each person can have a read through the judges comments and rulings.

I advise everyone to prepare a drink, sit down with at least 30 minutes up their sleeve and enjoy the read.

For me, the main points of interest are:
* ASI invested $16.5 million into BMG for 25% of BMG.
* BMG list of shareholders at 27th July 2011 were: John Hillam owning 32,000 shares, Hillams partner Ms Teeranukul owning 32,000 shares, PacMag Metals 3,060 shares, Giralia Resources, 2,940 shares, Mr Vereker 5,000 shares and ASI with 25,000 shares.
* Judge found: "Hawsons Knob project was the main reason why Ms Lau recommended that Ample Source take a 25% equity stake in Bonython Metals ".
* By Mid April 2010, ASI paid the $16.5 million to BMG. Ms Lau on behalf of ASI $13 million of the initial investment would be going to Carpentaria and that some money, in effect the balance, would be used for working capital for Bonython Metals. Ms Lau also accepted that she knew at that stage that Bonython Metals would just about run out of money by the end of 2010. The Judge agreed that with out ASI investing, BMG would have run out of money.
*On Hillam taking $300,000 out of BMG, the judge found: "I find that it was not disclosed to Ample Source on or before the signing of the shareholders agreement that some $300,000 of the money Ample Source was proposing to invest was to be paid to Mr Hillam in repayment of borrowings made by Bonython Metals from Mr Hillam in order to pay option fees. I find that, as submitted by Ample Source, it was not until on or about 21 May 2010 that Ample Source became aware of the nature of these payments."
*Despite all these issues, ASI agreed to buy another 10 shares in BMG for just over $44,000 but BMG never issued the shares. The judges comments on this: "On 7 February 2011, Ample Source tendered a total amount of $44,681 to acquire a further ten shares in Bonython Metals. That sum was banked by Bonython Metals on 8 March 2011 and paid into the company’s working bank account. Those shares have not been issued. Ample Source requested that the money be placed into a separate account until the shares were issued. This has not been done. I reject the reason given by Mr Hillam in his evidence that the shares have not been issued because the Ample Source director will not come to a directors meeting to allot the shares. I find that Mr Hillam and Ms Teeranukul voted against the issue of the shares at a members meeting on 27 January 2011 and at a later directors meeting on that day Mr Hillam would not vote on the issue. In my view, the non-issue of these shares denied Ample Source’s rights under the shareholders agreement."

I could go on and on but the judge was very critical on the way that Hillam handled BMG and treated ASI as a shareholder. Great comfort should be taken in the courts confirmation that Hawsons was the reason why ASI invested in BMG.

Enjoy the read of the court documents, It really confirms to me what a good piece of real estate Hawsons is.

* Federal court 22nd December 2011:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/cth/FCA/2011/1484.html?stem=0&synonyms=0&query=ample%20source%20international

* Federal court 10th January 2012:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/cth/FCA/2011/7.html?stem=0&synonyms=0&query=ample%20source%20international

* Federal Court 27th February 2012:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/cth/FCA/2012/137.html?stem=0&synonyms=0&query=ample%20source%20international