Radionet deal by Wilson Neill

By CHRIS BARTON

Wilson Neill has sold its Radionet subsidiary to Australian mining company Mount Conqueror Minerals for $24 million in shares, gaining a 75 per cent controlling interest and a backdoor listing on the Australian exchange.

Director Paul Hislop said the reverse takeover provided a vehicle for the rollout of Radionet's wireless Internet service in Australia and a launch pad into Asia.

The share deal sees 100 million shares in Mount Conqueror Minerals issued to Wilson Neill at 20Ac per share. The shares were trading at 25Ac yesterday. The move is a big change of direction for Mount Conqueror which, under Australian listing rules, is expected to be suspended from trading today.

Mount Conqueror director Malcom Bird said subject to shareholder approval the company would spin off its mining assets into a separate subsidiary which would be distributed to existing shareholders on a pro rata basis. He said it would take about two months for the company to meet ASX rules for relisting as Radionet.

Mr Bird said shareholders would be asked to approve two share placements. Investors introduced by Wilson Neill would be offered eight million shares at 20Ac a share with 40 million options at A1c exercisable at 20Ac. Mount Conqueror's 700 shareholders holding 35 million shares would be offered two for every six shares held at A20c.

Mr Hislop stressed that Wilson Neill had only sold the subsidiary that owned the Radionet's technology rights for Australia. It acquired the world rights to Radionet's technology when it bought the New Zealand company along with internet provider Onthenet for 75 million in shares worth about $11.1 million in February. Mr Hislop said Radionet would compete with existing Australian wireless internet providers Davenet and Cape Range, and believed it could offer fast wireless access 50 to 75 per cent more cheaply than equivalent telecommunications companies. The company would follow the same business model as New Zealand, offering business a bypass to fixed wireline network for fast data access using unlicensed spread spectrum radio frequencies.

Using cash flow from its hospitality business, which includes the Cobb and Co franchises, the company is spending about $2 million this year expanding Radionet's mainly Auckland network nationwide.

Mr Hislop said the Australian expansion would not affect Wilson Neill's plans for relisting on the New Zealand exchange, which was expected to happen in mid July. Wilson Neill has seen significant activity on the unlisted market in recent months trading at a low of 8c and a high of 19c. The shares were at 14c yesterday, giving the company a market capitalisation of just under $60 million.