where to now?, page-9

A week ago I posted the possibility that MOT maybe doing a deal with Mi Media Holdings. I'm a little surprised that no one got on my case and asked how I may think this.

So here is what I received via an email.

I received the Mayne Report via email (it's free) which is published by shareholder activist Stepthen Mayne.

Mayne is a Manningham Councillor and Mi Media Holdings is a Manningham based company.

I was amazed to read the following information published in the Mayne Report on the 30th August as it may have provided a trading opportunity here.

Here is the story (posted in full. Links will not connect):

We've previously covered the story of Mi Media Holdings, a Manningham-based company trading under the brand miRoamer and listed on a small stock exchange in Germany. It has made some big promises such as this website claim that it is "Leading the world in business to business digital media solutions - internet radio, smart phone interface, development and value-added content provision."

CEO and local boy George Parthimos generated plenty of good publicity from The Age and even became the major sponsor of the South Melbourne Football Club which trumpeted one achievement as follows in June 2009:

South Melbourne FC would like to congratulate George Parthimos and the team at miRoamer for their recent accomplishment of winning the AIIA (Australian Information Industry Association) 2009 iAward in the media and entertainment category.

In what is an amazing accomplishment for SMFC's major sponsor, miRoamer was rewarded and selected for their introduction of the world's first Internet car radio. This enables drivers worldwide to access internet radio through their car stereo from any location in the world.

Click here to see George with the famous South Melbourne soccer jumper.

Miroamer did indeed have great technology prospects 5 years ago, but it has been slow to commercialise them and now both shareholders and staff are hurting.

Shareholders have been impressed with a barrage of Tier 1 company names, but it seems MOUs and NDAs haven't materialised into money spinning real contracts.

The monetisation strategy has seen miRoamer generate little more than 1 million cumulative hits from their main outlet, BlackBerry, over the past six months. The direct competitor, Intune Radio, scores about 250 million hits every month.

The CEO has racked up a few debts to staff and service providers as he scrambles to monetise the technology, but there are now questions about how long the promises can keep coming.

The Tax Office is now seeking payment on a six figure obligation held with a company called Torian, which morphed into Mi Media. Torian is now in administration.

There is another attempt to raise captial at the moment at 10c a share, but some long term supporters have had enough, especially with the share price hovering between 2c and 6c.

MiMedia Holdings has also been holding some discussions about possibly doing a back-door merger with a small listed company called Motopia (ASX code:MOT).

It will be interesting to see if this comes off and we do hope staff and shareholders can salvage something from their commitment over the past few years.

Australia doesn't produce enough global technology players so good luck to George and those around him in trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat, but there also needs to be plenty of reality and transparency about what is going on.