IRG gets $400,000 boost from rich-lister

Rich-lister and Just Water chief executive Tony Falkenstein has thrown his hat in with former Dorchester chief Brent King to take a stake in the loss-making Investment Research Group (IRG).

The Auckland investment research and media company yesterday said Falkenstein's Edwin Trust would plough $400,000 into the firm.

NZAX-listed IRG, formerly known as Viking Capital, had been suspended from trading until Tuesday because of a late filing of its annual accounts. They had been due at the end of July but the company missed its deadline because it was in talks with its bankers over a breach in a debt covenant.

That saw King put an extra $240,000 into the business through his Snowdon Peak Investments trust before reaching an agreement with the bank to waive the breach.

Falkenstein yesterday said the investment was probably a higher risk than he would normally take but he believed it would pay off. "They have admitted they have made some mistakes in the past."

He said that now that the company was focused back on King's core expertise, the financial services sector, he believed it was back on track.

Falkenstein said that sometimes the best investments were those made in areas that were now out of favour and he believed financial information would be a desirable commodity in the future.

"With Bartercard there could also be some good dual benefits."

King said the company had not needed to raise the money after reaching an agreement with its bank but it had received a lot of interest from investors after declaring its desire to raise $500,000 in new capital.

He did not rule out bringing in more investors.

Falkenstein will pay 2.25c a share, more than double the 1.1c the company was trading at yesterday and will have to receive approval from shareholders at the annual general meeting in October.

Company accounts show IRG lost $3.95 million in the year to March 31 on the back of a $15.98 million loss in the 2008 financial year.

King launched IRG, then known as Viking Capital in 2006, as an aggressive investment vehicle. Last year he repositioned the company to focus on financial advice, research and media.