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Temasek Hong Kan liao - ABC Learning centres sold to charity for $1 each

dream_waker

Alfrescian
Loyal
Not even mentioned in shit time..haha

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25372765-36418,00.html

ABC Learning centres sold to charity for $1 each

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Natasha Bita | April 23, 2009
Article from: The Australian

FAILED childcare centres reliant on taxpayer funding have been sold to a charity for $1 each.

Mission Australia paid a token $1 each for several of the 29 ABC Learning centres it bought from the collapsed childcare chain's receiver, PPB, industry sources told The Australian yesterday.

PPB is refusing to reveal how much it received for 210centres, sold to 65 different buyers last week.

Mission Australia plans to use its 29 new centres in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory to expand its Pathways program to help prepare disadvantaged young children for school.

"We got a really fantastic deal," Mission Australia spokesman Paul Andrews said yesterday.

"We were able to secure favourable rent concessions and terms for some specific centres which helped balance the sustainability of the whole package."

Mr Andrews would not say how many centres had been purchased for a token $1, citing commercial confidentiality.

He said Mission Australia was retaining the existing ABC childcare staff and predicted the centres would be "self-sustaining" within 18 months.

"Our ambition is about having a greater impact on families, particularly those doing it tough in disadvantaged areas," he said.

"The problems that ABC had in terms of viability of the centres we don't, because we have a completely different model - we're not having to support shareholders."

PPB partner Stephen Parbery, who was appointed by the Federal Court to sell 241 centres deemed unviable by ABC Learning's co-receiver, McGrathNicol, said yesterday sales figures would be provided to the court once the sale process was completed.

"For commercial reasons we do not believe it is in the interest of the sale process to make any announcements about sale proceeds until after the completion dates of all contracts," he told The Australian.

Mr Parbery said some of the proceeds would be paid to PPB for "chattels" - such as childcare equipment - owned by ABC.

Part of the proceeds would be repaid to the federal Government, which has given the two receivers $56 million of taxpayer funds to keep the centres running until they are sold. Any leftover funds would be paid to ABC Learning's creditors, who are owed $1.6 billion.

Mr Parbery refused to say how much taxpayers could expect to recoup on the deal, or how many centres had been sold for token payments.
 

makapaaa

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
HC-StDesmondWee.jpg


What is hong kan huh? I knows NO REGRET, OK?! *chey*
 

makapaaa

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
$600M GONE!
CCB Familee, Where's the due diligence?
Where's the accountability?

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=560><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=550 colSpan=2>Temasek's Aussie investment goes under <!-- TITLE : end--><!--
(SINGAPORE) A Temasek Holdings investment Down Under has gone under - a victim not just of the credit crunch but also dubious management. --></TD></TR><TR>
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</TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=550 colSpan=2 align=left><TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD class=content_subtitle>Siow Li Sen</TD></TR><TR><TD class=content_subtitle align=left>Fri, Nov 07, 2008
The Business Times </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD width=400 align=right><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right> </TD><TD height=15>
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</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right><FORM method=post name=emailToFriendForm action=emailToFriend.jsp><INPUT value=/vgn-ext-templating/asiaone/emailToFriend.jsp?vgnextoid=842b0666e567d110VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=034badbd2b722110VgnVCM100000bd0a0a0aRCRD type=hidden name=emailToFriendPageURL> <INPUT value=http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BBusiness%2BTimes/Story/A1Story20081107-99096.html type=hidden name=emailToFriendStoryLink> </FORM><SCRIPT> function openEmailWindow(emailToFriendForm) { var emailToFriendPageURL = emailToFriendForm.emailToFriendPageURL.value; emailToFriendForm.action = emailToFriendPageURL; emailToFriendForm.target="_blank"; emailToFriendForm.submit(); } </SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><!-- Story Without Image / With eXtra Large Image End --><TR><TD class=bodytext colSpan=3><!-- CONTENT : start -->(SINGAPORE) A Temasek Holdings investment Down Under has gone under - a victim not just of the credit crunch but also dubious management.
Childcare operator ABC Learning Centres said yesterday that it has gone into receivership and appointed voluntary administrators to help clear a mountain of debt.
Reports are emerging that founder Eddy Groves, who was ousted in September, ran ABC's operations in such an 'opaque' way that potential rescuers find the business model hard to decipher.
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=300 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD><!-- AdSpace 300X250 IMU --><IFRAME height=250 marginHeight=0 src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/html.ng/site=TAsia1Home&sec=a1_bto&pagepos=1&size=300X250" frameBorder=0 width=300 marginWidth=0 scrolling=no BORDERCOLOR="#000000"> <script language='JavaScript1.1' src='http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&site=TAsia1Home&sec=a1_bto&pagepos=1&size=300X250'> </script><NOSCRIPT> </NOSCRIPT></IFRAME><!-- /AdSpace --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/static/ads/scripts/adsimu.js"></SCRIPT>ABC has also been attacked over related-party transactions. Mr Groves' former brother-in-law had a A$170 million (S$174 million) maintenance and renovation contract for ABC's childcare centres, and the service company lists its principal place of business as Mr Groves' Brisbane apartment.
Reports yesterday said the directors of ABC - the largest childcare centre operator in Australia and second-largest in the US - has appointed Ferrier Hodgson Group voluntary administrator.
Temasek Holdings is ABC's second-largest shareholder. In May last year, the Singapore investment company spent A$401.5 million or A$7.30 a share on a 12 per cent stake. Then early this year - as the stock sank - Temasek increased its stake to 14.7 per cent. This has since been pared to 12.68 per cent, after ABC completed an A$82 million equity placement in June.
Temasek Holdings spokeswoman Myrna Thomas said yesterday: 'We note the serious development announced by ABC Learning Centres. We are monitoring the situation closely and will explore all options available to us.'
Lazard Asset Management is ABC's largest shareholder with 12.93 per cent, followed by Temasek, then Morgan Stanley.
ABC said the company's banking syndicate has appointed advisory firm McGrathNicol as receiver, AP reported.
ABC chairman David Ryan said the company's board and management are 'disappointed' to be in this position but that quality childcare will continue. The company has almost 1,200 childcare centres in Australia and New Zealand, and more than 1,000 in the US, as well as more than two dozen nurseries in Britain.
ABC's debt on June 30, 2007 was A$2.2 billion, up substantially from A$111 million at the end of fiscal 2004.
The company, which gets a large proportion of its revenue from Australian government childcare subsidies, has delayed filing annual results for its latest financial year.
The government is in talks with creditors about ABC's future and has set up a task force to consider contingency plans to protect families that use the childcare service.
Potential buyers have been put off by the company's opaque management, after going through its books.
The Australian Financial Review newspaper said on Wednesday that instead of developing its own centres, ABC paid a company called 123 Global, run by former ABC executive Don Jones, to buy land, build centres and run them until occupancy rates were up, before selling them at a multiple of earnings.
But ABC could claw back liquidated damages if occupancy rates fell short, booking these as profits. In 2006, Mr Jones was running 123 Careers, which outsourced ABC Learning Centre staff. He paid a fee to ABC for a 10-year contract, which ABC front-loaded with payments over three years.
ABC is also said to have bought a toy distributor for A$5 million, loaded it with contracts to supply ABC Learning Centres, and then sold it for A$46 million.
Trading in ABC's shares has been suspended since Aug 21 as the company worked to resolve its debts. The shares last traded at 54 Australian cents.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 

makapaaa

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
ped_ys.jpg


<IMG style="WIDTH: 375px; HEIGHT: 500px" id=fullSizedImage class=media alt="homeless5.jpg Two homeless Singaporeans enjoying the cool night breeze.

This is Swiss Standard of Living as promised by SM Goh Chok Tong. picture by vnc2005" src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/vnc2005/Swiss_Standard_of_Living/homeless5.jpg" GALLERYIMG="no">​
 

Papsmearer

Alfrescian (InfP) - Comp
Generous Asset
Temasek and Ho Jinx specialises in buying all these companies from shady people, eg. Thaksin, this guy, etc. The kick back must have been huge.
 
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