Darling of health Ventracor losing heart on funds
Rebecca Urban | December 12, 2008
Article from: The Australian
VENTRACOR, a former darling of the healthcare sector, has all but raised the white flag, after shareholders shunned its last-ditch fund-raising effort.
However, instead of calling in administrators -- as chairman John Ward warned he would do at the recent annual meeting in Brisbane -- Ventracor's chief executive Peter Crosby and financial officer Graeme Fallett have packed their bags and flown to the US to find a buyer for all or part of the group.
"Subscriptions in the share purchase plan and placement did not achieve the goal ... to fund the company's operations until June 30, 2009," the heart device maker announced to the securities exchange yesterday.
"The company is open to opportunities including investment, acquisition, merger or any other structure that maximises shareholder value."
While hindsight is a powerful thing,
Ventracor's long-suffering shareholders could be excused for wondering why this course of action wasn't pursued before the company started running out of money.
Ventracor, which has won a swag of gongs for its life-saving heart device, has already been forced to cut spending and staff are being asked to take any annual leave they have owing.
No doubt Ventracor boss Peter Crosby is doing his bit too.
We assume the company booked him a business class ticket to America this time -- or even economy -- rather than first class, as has been the case in the past.
Crosby has been paid a total $3.8 million during the 2 1/2 years he's been running the show, and during that time the share price has fallen 95 per cent.
Snoops report that he's already cleared out his office at the company's Chatswood headquarters, including the framed photo of his family's impressive home in France (see
www.marthon.org).
Having sold a large chunk of his shares earlier this year, Crosby's employment contract was recently renewed by the board, which counts Babcock & Brown's Elizabeth Nosworthy as a director.
In the event that his position is made redundant, he will receive a payout equal to a year's salary