Beleaguered digital services company BlueFreeway has begun negotiations over selling back its portfolio of part owned companies to their founders, Digital Media can reveal. The buy back scheme for companies not already 100% owned by the group will form part of chairman Michael Hannan’s salvage plan set to be announced on Friday.
Blue Freeway is expected to resume trading on the stock exchange on Friday the 13th pending approval from the ASX following a prolonged suspension from trading requested by the company on May 5.
Hannan, who is also group MD of digital media company IPMG, became non executive chairman of BlueFreeway in April after upping his stake in the company to 19.9%.He has installed IPMG CFO Kevin Slaven as board director in addition to the only original serving board member Nick Greiner. The current slimline board follows a stream of executive shake outs since the ousting of BlueFreeway founder Richard Webb in January.
Subsequent high profile departures from the board include Warwick Smith in late February and most recently Tony Charrara and Danny Herceg.
In line with announcements made at the time of Webb’s resignation in January, the new executive team is expected to focus on its core and stronger performing assets including the 100% owned portfolio companies of Viva9, Blu Central, Forty Two International. Staff at all the 25 portfolio companies have been in a holding pattern since January. One former senior executive described the last six months as being onboard a “rudderless ship.”
It is understood that the board is attempting to divest its international interests as quickly as possible. The newly installed BlueFreeway management is understood to have been exerting particular pressure on its Asian subsidiaries to buy back the assets of the companies in the wake of the loss and subsequent disappearance of BlueFreeway’s Thailand-based Southeast Asia group MD Bill Emden. It has been revealed that Emden, who was appointed by Richard Webb last year with the express purpose of targeting and acquiring Southeast Asian assets, is a US-convicted sex offender.
BlueFreeway has defended the hiring of Emden but claims that his recent dismissal was part of the rationalisation of its international offices.
BlueFreeway spokesperson Ian Kortlang said, “Bill Emden was employed by the previous management in the full knowledge of his conviction in the USA. He ceased operational duties in the Thailand office some eight weeks ago as part of our global rationalisation of our sales offices.”
Emden, who was responsible for the $1.5 million acquisitions in October of three Thai-based digital companies, Media Synergies, PlanetUtech and Reflexible, left without contacting any of the Asian staff. Management of all three Thai companies, which comprise the Thailand wholly owned subsidiary of BlueFreeway, found out about his departure from Sydney based management who informed them that he had “left for personal reasons.”
Subsequently around eight staff in the Thai office were dismissed in addition to Thailand MD Michael Poonpipat.
Sources close to the Thai subsidiary claim that BlueFreeway management is offering the companies the opportunity to buy back their assets at the original price for which they were bought.