Mundine’s failed $10m IPO must repay investors…by today

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ANTHONY KLAN

Warren Mundine’s Fuse Minerals has until today to repay investors in its failed $10 million initial public offering — yet both he and the entities that handled the raising are refusing to comment.

The “minerals exploration” company, of which Mundine is chair, makes no reference to the failed raising on its website, despite being forced to scrap the offer a month ago due to lack of investor interest.

The company’s (now defunct) prospectus states that if the offer is pulled Fuse Minerals will repay investors within “28 days” — which is today.

Mundine is chair of Fuse Minerals, and so responsible for overseeing corporate governance, as well as being the company’s only “independent director”.

Mundine and the companies appointed to handle the Fuse Minerals IPO, Unified Capital Partners and Defender Asset Management, have since Friday last week all refused to comment when asked about investor refunds.

The share registry handling the funds, Sydney’s Automic Group, confirmed The Klaxon’s requests for comment last Friday — then refused to comment.

The Fuse Minerals prospectus states money raised would be “held in trust”, although no further information is provided.

Fuse Minerals has not disclosed how much it raised before being forced to pull the offer on March 28.

As previously revealed by The Klaxon, by late January it had raised just $1.86m, a fraction of the minimum $6m it needed to proceed with the IPO and planned ASX float.

It has now emerged that in response to that article, Mundine on February 29 reportedly claimed that just $1.5m of the $6m remained outstanding.

If true, which appears unlikely, that would mean investors are owed at least $4.5m.

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Investors are to be repaid “within 28 days” of the offer being withdrawn. Source: Fuse Minerals prospectus

The offer was to raise between $6m and $10m (above which stricter disclosure requirements apply) at 20c a share.

At June 30 last year Fuse Minerals had net current assets of just $178,749, the prospectus shows.

Its auditor, Ernst & Young partner Ryan Fisk, on October 31 warned there was a “material uncertainly” the company would collapse if the raising didn’t proceed.

The 402-page prospectus estimated the costs of the offer at between $900,000 and $1.15m, including $236,000 in legal fees.

Mundine’s failure to address the failed IPO is despite him having heavily spruiked the investment over several months, including on social media, where he is a prolific commentator.

Last week Mundine appeared on national television program Sky News, which he spruiked on social media.

Mundine appeared on the one-hour “Danica and James” program hosted by Danica Di Giorgio and James Macpherson.

He was not asked about Fuse Minerals.

Mundine appeared on Sky News last week. Source: LinkedIn

Fuse Minerals has never made a cent in revenue or conducted any drilling. It was registered in September 2021, company filings show.

The Fuse Minerals prospectus states the company has three “projects”, two in Western Australia and one in Queensland, which are based around nine exploration “tenements”.

Yet close analysis shows the company owns just one of those exploration licences, with most owned by companies controlled by Fuse Minerals directors, which Fuse Minerals would have acquired had the offer been successful.

Source: Fuse Minerals prospectus

Mundine and Senator Jacinta Price were the two main faces of the campaign against an Indigenous Voice to Parliament last year, which made false claims of being a “grassroots” campaign of “ordinary Australians” and campaigned against the “elite”.

In fact, it was a highly sophisticated operation bankrolled by a highly wealthy individuals, many with deep ties to mining and fossil fuels.

Mundine announced he was chair of Fuse Minerals — and that the company was seeking to raise up to $10m and list on the ASX — on November 2 last year, two weeks after the referendum.

The IPO and listing failure means 500,000 shares and 2 million options Mundine was issued as chair of the company are now effectively worthless, and he will not receive his planned $120,000 a year salary.

Mundine heavily spruiked the offer. Source: LinkedIn

The Fuse Minerals offer was launched on November 20.

It initially for two weeks but was repeatedly extended — to more than four months — before being pulled on March 28.

On January 24, issuing a “Second Supplementary Prospectus”, the company disclosed it had had received applications for “approximately 9,295,000 shares”, which at 20c a share amounts to $1.86m.

On February 29 Mundine reportedly told the National Indigenous Times that only $1.5m required to meet $6m minimum, suggesting $4.5m had been raised — almost two-and-a-half-times that just a month earlier.

“Mr Mundine…told the National Indigenous Times on Thursday only $1.5m in capital raising was required for Fuse’s IPO to reach its required target…and proceed to float, contrary to reports it had raised only $1.86m from investors,” the paper reported.

If those claims are correct, which appears unlikely, it means the amount owed to investors is $4.5m plus any additional money raised up to March 28.

Because of Fuse’s delays, from January 24 investors were legally entitled to recover their funds, if they made a claim to the company before February 26.

Fuse Minerals made no mention of this on its homepage or social media channels.

Instead, it was disclosed at the end of the six-page “second supplementary prospectus”, dated January 24 and attached to the online 402-page, Fuse Minerals prospectus.

Searches show that during that period Mundine posted more than 150 times to social media.

He made no mention of the available refunds.

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