Hawkins makes listed company return

Allan Hawkins, the man behind Equiticorp Holdings, the high-flyer that crashed in 1987, is coming back to head a listed company.

Auckland's Rocom Wireless has told the New Zealand Exchange that two of Mr Hawkins' private companies - Cynotech Securities Ltd (CSL) and Newmarket Securities Ltd (NSL) - have taken over Rocom's funding.

At the same time, the agreement also covers Mr Hawkins becoming Rocom's chief executive and chairman.

Equiticorp, a holding company which had a group of trans-Tasman businesses, was one of the firms burned after the 1987 sharemarket crash.

In January 1989, the Lange Government put 94 of Equiticorp's companies into statutory management and receivership, at a time when the holding company had 40,000 shareholders and the group about 10,000 depositors.

Mr Hawkins was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for convictions on six counts of fraud and conspiracy.

The Equiticorp saga lingered until 1998, when the company agreed to pay the Government - appointed statutory managers - $267.5 million to settle a claim over the sale of New Zealand Steel.

Asked today how it felt to be back heading a listed company, Mr Hawkins said that he thought he brought daily management experience to Rocom, while Richard Guy, one of Rocom's executive directors, had more experience on the technology side.

Mr Hawkins was unable to say how much he, or his private companies, would hold in Rocom, as part of the deal involved a rights issue.

"The market and shareholders will get more information about the issue in the next couple of weeks."

However, before then exchange and securities approvals were required, so no more details could be given, he said.

Rocom told the New Zealand Exchange (NZX) that its board would seek shareholder approval on the issues related to funding and the rights plan.

Rocom also said that CSL and NSL had been assigned Magpie Investments loan facility, and that the two Hawkins firms had agreed to extend on the same terms as those set by Magpie, owned by Rocom's then chairman Craig Foss, last December.

However, Mr Foss announced his resignation in April.

Rocom, a telecommunications company, is listed on the NZX's alternative market.

- NZPA