It was Frank Timis, the fallen chairman of Regal Petroleum — 2005’s most spectacular AIM blow-out — declaring loudly that he had a new dead cert.
“Frank’s back,” shouted one investor to the rest. “And he says this one is going to be bigger than Ben-Hur.”
I looked round for groans: just a few months ago Timis said Regal had the biggest oilfield in Europe. But instead the investors were highly excited.
The new hope is Cape Lambert, formerly International Goldfields, an Australian mining venture in which Timis had a 14% stake. Three weeks ago it resumed trading after raising A$33m (£14m) and reinventing itself as an iron-ore business with plans to float on AIM.
On Friday the stock was suspended again. I called Timis who assured me all was well: next week International Goldfields will be spun out again leaving the A$100m iron-ore business to soar. “We have big, high-quality reserves and, being so close to the port, our capital expenditure is very low,” he said. “We have some big contracts, too. This could be a A$1.5 billion company.”
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The bravado sounds the same but Timis assures me that Cape Lambert is different to Regal. “I will stay a shareholder (he now owns 16%). I’m not going to be a director. I learnt my lesson — you taught me that.”
Shelling out on executive jet jaunts
HERE’S more on the strange world of Langbar. For a cash shell that seems never to have had any cash, company executives conducted their work in considerable style.
Before the Serious Fraud Office was called in, Langbar directors travelled in a private jet supplied by NetJets at the rate of about £22,000 a month, or £264,000 a year. I discovered this luxury was provided by Barry Townsley, of Insinger Townsley, Langbar’s adviser.
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I called the Labour donor — who is busy back-pedalling from the scandal for fear of his new life-peerage nomination — to ask how he could afford such largesse. He confirmed the jet travel — he went to Russia with investors Mariusz Rybak and Avi Arad — but said that although Langbar used his NetJet contract, it paid the bills.