Anzon rises from dead thanks to energy boost

Gordon Nolan is thrilled small shareholders can finally get something for their shares. Picture / Martin Sykes

In what could be the greatest comeback story since Lazarus, long-suffering shareholders in 80s sharemarket high-flyer Anzon Investments can finally sell their shares.

Anzon first listed in 1985, describing itself as an investor in "speciality product markets". Its shares traded for up to $8 as it pursued property and industrial investments.

With a major shareholder such as Chase Corp, the 1987 sharemarket crash hit Anzon hard and it was ignominiously delisted in 1990 after failing to pay its listing fees.

But it was not dead and buried, as a group of dedicated shareholders kept it in a form of suspended animation as a "clean shell" company, with up to 3300 shareholders.

Several attempts to re-animate the company came and went, with Anzon finally rising from the ashes as Australian oil and gas concern Anzon Energy.

And now that Anzon Energy has listed on London's AIM exchange, its hardy band of 2500 local shareholders can sell their shares - after 15 years.

The shares last changed hands on the AIM for 1.23 ($3.01).

But the deal is not quite as good as it first appears; the original shares were consolidated 50-for-1 while they were unlisted.

Company chairman Steven Koroknay said that meant most New Zealand share parcels were small, with only 250 people having more than 2000 shares. Several held only one share.

Auckland shareholder and former company director Gordon Nolan was one of those who kept Anzon going.

He was delighted small shareholders could now get something for their shares.

"I'm delighted for those people who have hung in there and are going to get something out of it," he said

"It's not just the big people, it's the small shareholders who came to all our general meetings and gave us verbal support and rang us up and said 'keep on going'. Now, after all this time, after virtually writing it off, it's worth something."

Nolan said he was one of a group of people who had worked to keep the company afloat for 15 years.

"Someone said to me, 'You're mad getting involved with Anzon, trying to save that'.

"They said, 'We've got shares in Equiticorp, that's got more chance of ever getting up and going than Anzon does'. Isn't that amazing after all these years?"

A few shareholders who had helped bail Anzon out in the early days had a decent parcel of shares - but far more wealth had been destroyed through owning the shares than had now been gained.

"People have had them in their bottom drawers," said Nolan.

"But I am concerned that people don't know the true value of their shares. And if some unscrupulous person comes along and says 'hey - I'll give you a dollar each for your Anzon shares, they're going to say that's wonderful, when in actual fact they're probably worth more than three."

Nolan owns 40,000 shares, but says he knows of others with parcels of more than 100,000.

Koroknay said he was not too concerned about the prospect of New Zealanders, who owned about 8 per cent of Anzon, bailing out now they had an opportunity to sell.

"At the start of 2001, those shareholders didn't have anything - today they own shares that are trading around 1.30 - they've got something back, which is great."

Koroknay expected several would take the opportunity to get some money from their shares.

"There'll be a bit of both - some will say, 'I've had them this long now all of a sudden they are worth something, these guys have done something worthwhile with it. I'll live with it for a while and see what they do with it.' They can't lose anything, quite frankly, by staying there.

"Others may want to sell and say good riddance. We don't take that personally, because we didn't have anything to do with all that - we understand."


The tale so far
* Anzon Investments was a 1980s high-flyer.
* It has resurfaced after 15 years as Anzon Energy.
* It is now trading on London's AIM exchange at around $3.
* The Australian oil and gas concern has 2500 shareholders here.
* They have shareholdings ranging from more than 100,000 to one.
* They will now be able to get a return on those shares.