Montana committee gags key players

By DITA DE BONI

The secrecy surrounding the stock exchange inquiry into Lion Nathan's raid on Montana deepened yesterday with a gag imposed on participants.

Parties to the investigation - Allied Domecq, Lion Nathan, Lion's broker Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and Montana Group - have agreed to a Standing Committee request not to answer any questions from the media about the status of the hearing, expected to begin late next month.

Instead, the Standing Committee says it will be the only party to issue comments on the hearings, with a statement on progress made at yesterday's meeting between lawyers of the parties to be issued today.

It is understood that members of the Standing Committee - Sir Duncan McMullin, QC, Sir Ian Barker, QC, and William Wilson, QC - are unhappy with stories appearing in the business media this week, which have suggested, among other things, that there have been delays and an inability to recover transcripts and tapes from broker CSFB.

The tapes, thought to be over 100 hours of conversations taped on February 8, are wanted to ascertain whether Lion jumped the gun by buying shares in Montana before the waiver it was issued came into force.

David Quigg, of Quigg Partners, who is acting on behalf of the Standing Committee, said the committee had decided to take over comment on the hearings as there had been too much confusion and speculation.

He said "excellent progress" was made at yesterday's meeting.