11 March 2008
HEDLEY Leisure and Gaming chief executive Tom Hedley is seeking to refinance margin loans on the more than 20 million units he holds in the pub group, or about one-sixth of the units on issue.
HLG's share price has slumped in the past fortnight, partly on speculation it was sailing close to loan covenants. But the group came out swinging against "baseless rumour" yesterday, saying it remained comfortably within loan-to-value ratios.It also revealed that its board, led by chairman Colin Henson, had asked all directors to disclose margin loans held over its units. Mr Hedley, through his private company TWH (Qld), has a margin loan on 20.6 million units in the group. The Queensland pubs baron's overall holding is 77 million units, about 60% of the capital. The pubs group, which leases but does not manage the pubs it owns, said TWH was negotiating alternative financing for Mr Hedley's margin loan.HLG did not return calls yesterday, but documents filed to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission show TWH opened facilities with financier Lift Capital and Suncorp late last year. Shares in HLG closed up 7? at $1, after trading as high as $1.40 yesterday morning.