Previously Crown Corp, CCO. Institutional interest now and the Co has changed it's name for a fresh beginning. Still very speculative, but what isn't? but just a case of investing the huge amount of Cash sitting in a Brazilian bank a/c. There's no real difference here to an emerging markets investment fund apart from the obvious and very attractive discount to NAV of approx 75% !!!!!

I spoke with Bankside (give them a call) who have confirmed that the company itslef called for the suspension, primarily floowing the sales from Ryback, to qualify the asset poistion to the market from an independant source and thus remove all uncertainty and bogus sp fluctuation.

Timescales are unknown, but probably in weeks.

Pearson is openly against shorters and scaremongers, so this can only help to add to lessening their impact.

At the end of the day. Those that are in this share will have to wait for the announcement, and can do nothing to change any fact. Those that are outside of the share can say whatever and will not have any effect on the outcome. I am in this share and freely admit it is a complete gamble we will see.

I did have a look at some of the share magazines last night. While they where reporting the moneys being released from Brazil and the companys recent investments. They did not seem to carry any real enthusiasm for the company. As pointed out above no one will take this company seriously until the fog is blowen away. This will take in my opion something major ie what is happening.

If nothing else I will be able to tell my children the story of the great Aim swindle or you can get money for nothing.

regards

Probably enough already said so lets wait and see. However on the Brazil issue, I have a lot of experience with that country and know that inflows of foreign capital of $100,000 or more must be registered with the Central Bank. That money if freely repatriable, plus reasonable interest. Dividends and capital gains are also repatriable subject to any applicable federal and state taxes, plus a (possible)withholding tax of 15%.
I therefore have no qualms about the money already released to AMRO. It has to have been registered capital returned to the registered owner of the money. I suspect the remainder is capital gains but that is pure guesswork.

The Guardian

Langbar International, a little-known investment company listed on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) and formerly known as Crown Corporation, asked for trading in its shares to be suspended yesterday while it attempts to secure evidence that it does have more than 350m deposited in overseas bank accounts.
The shares were suspended at 50p, less than a quarter of the 205p net asset value per share of the company, after some investors voiced concerns about recent stock sales.
On Tuesday it emerged that Mariusz Rybak, the company's co-founder and former executive chairman, had been steadily reducing his stake in the business. His holding was in excess of 30% in the summer but Mr Rybak has been forced to disclose that his stake has fallen below 20% after a series of disposals.
A number of investors were concerned about his lack of support for the stock and contacted Langbar and its advisers on Tuesday.

The company subsequently decided to appoint independent accountants to scrutinise the company's assets. In so doing they are likely to check on cash deposits held in three principal bank accounts - one each in Brazil and Holland, and a third in Leeds.

Stuart Pearson, who took over as Langbar's chief executive in June, received written confirmation in July from the Banco do Brasil that the company had legal and beneficial ownership of deposits worth $660m (377m) held in Brazil at that time.

Subsequently Mr Pearson arranged for $294m to be transferred from Brazil to a bank account in Holland. He is now negotiating a deal to allow the balance of the Brazilian funds to be used to finance property deals on the Iberian peninsula.

The valuations relating to those deals are now being reviewed as a matter of course.

The overseas cash was generated in almost equal measures by the proceeds from a stock market listing and the profit from the sale of construction contracts awarded in Argentina under that country's equivalent of the private finance initiative.

The listing was supported largely by Brazilian, Argentinian and some German investors. Because of the company's South American investor involvement, the funds raised had to be retained, under local banking rules, in that part of the world.

The company was assisted in winning the Argentinian construction contracts in 2003 by Lambert Financial Investments, a Barcelona-based fund manager representing mainly wealthy pensioners living in South America. Lambert is said to enjoy good relations with the Argentinian government.

The contracts, with a value of about $700m, were not carried out by Langbar but sold to Lambert last year, generating a profit of $350m. Despite not having done any of the work outlined in the documents, Langbar has been given assurances that it has no continuing liabilities relating to the contracts.

Lambert is now rumoured to have sold on the contracts again, generating fresh profits on the deal.

Lambert paid the $350m it owed Langbar for the contracts, using a promissory note which was honoured and paid into the Brazilian bank account in June this year. Although the Brazilian bank accounts have been a feature at Langbar since its Aim listing in 2003, they came to prominence only in the summer.

In July Mr Pearson visited Brazil and he reported to the market on his return that not only did the funds exist but that he was also exploring methods to secure access to them.

Langbar's share price, which was 11p when Mr Pearson was appointed, rose close to the 100p mark during the summer. But the trading price has drifted back towards the 50p suspension level as sellers emerged.

A couple of thoughts as I watch this one from the side-lines:-

1. "Langbar International, a little-known investment company . . " all credit to the fearless ferreting out of this company and reporting on it by the Grauniad's trusty investigative financial journo! lol. Or did someone feed him the above press release - it is written in very crisp, terms (balanced to the nth degree, so as to sound reasonable and fair, whilst saying nothing negative at all - so not that balanced), unlike the G's normal style IMHO.

2. When a share is suspended for other than technical restructuring reasons, the outcome upon re-listing is a 50/50 gamble. I am not in the business of gambling, so any share that is, or is likely to become, suspended is not in the market in which I wish to trade.

Both above comments are highly sceptical of the current situation, I know. Notwithstanding, upon re-listing after a properly clarifying RNS as to the status of LGB's cash assets and, importantly, any liabilities attaching thereto, I will continue to watch this one to see if there is a trading opportunity to be had. (I do not see this as ever havong long-term attractions as a core-holding for me.) Until then I'm sitting on not only my hands, but my laptop too.

I wish all holders the greatest good fortune on the outcome upon re-listing. The wait will be horrendous - just breath very deeply and slowly.

sd

Are we able to get another statement which says WHO the independent valuer is (hopefully having taken the decision to do this, the valuer will be VERY PRESTIGIOUS, VERY CONVINCING and the VERY BEST choice to make a difference!) AND .............perhaps reaffirm that the company took the decision IN OUR VERY BEST INTERESTS! ha ha

It does not take a brain surgeon to make a few phone calls to find out what might be happening.

Perhaps you might all like to consider that as part of the process of acquiring Real Affinity there is a period of due diligence required by both parties in this transaction by the accountants and lawyers. As part of the enquiries normally cash is treated as cash available/disposable, but for some reason, which they would not say, some doubt has been cast as to the real cash balances and the true ownership (unencumbered ownership). You have to assume that the company was happy to get a third party to verify, or were they forced to for some reason? No doubt the result of the verification will be made public and we will then know the true reason for the sudden suspension, good or bad.


A few useful numbers:

Stuart Pearson 0113 284 3838

Michael Padley 020 7444 4140

l spoke to company relations man today,there is a meeting friday with broker and bank to appoint valuer.he didnt no why ceo sold so many shares at qtr of asset val.l am alarge holder and not hopefull of outcome i always feel the market tells u when somethings wrong and it has i just wish i had listened to it.i will post his mobile tel no if anybody req it

Pauly M strikes again !!!

This stinks and a just a quick reminder for Pauly :

Dil - 27 Aug 2005 00:50 - 14 of 201
Any of you lot tried getting money out of Brazil without providing proof of delivery of goods / services that have been confirmed by government officials ?

Good luck.

Dil, They have already got money out!!
And they ain trying to get any more out!!

Its not Wales yer know!!

I gave up long ago trying to get money out the Welsh!!

someone post the FT article today, I cant update my subscription, stupid payment system!!

Hiya mate how you keeping ?

We'll have to wait and see how much they really got out.

Langbar board meets
Eric Barkas
City Editor
Langbar International's board met in Barcelona last night to thrash out issues surrounding suspension of its shares.
The cash shell company, which is run out of Leeds, had requested suspension after former chief executive Mariusz Rybak sold shares equivalent to 10 per cent of the company.
This, plus an earlier sale by a hedge fund, depressed shares and caused concern among institutional investors. The suspension price of 50p compared with a high for the year of 120p.
A Langbar spokesman said that, given the uncertainty, it was best to suspend the shares so the board could thrash out finances and reassure investors there was no hidden reason for the sale of shares. Barcelona was chosen because it was convenient for board members and, as an offshore company registered in Bermuda, Langbar was limited in what it could do officially in the UK.
Langbar has around 360m in cash, most of it inherited from the investment company Crown Corporation in which it had its beginnings. Two weeks ago the company agreed on its first corporate acquisition 2.6m in shares for the Bradford marketing business Real Affinity.
14 October 2005

The jewel in Crown's cash shell is hard to find
By David Blackwell
Published: October 14 2005 03:00 | Last updated: October 14 2005 03:00

Psssssst! Wanna buy 224p for 50p? Take a look at Langbar International, the mother and father of Aim cash shells.

The interim report and accounts, published last week, shows that the company has a net asset value of just over 360m, equivalent to 224p a share. Most of that is cash sitting in banks in the Netherlands and Brazil.

The company supports a staff of just three people.

However, you may be thanking your lucky stars to have missed this particular boat. On Wednesday, the shares were suspended at 50p at the request of the company, "pending independent verification of certain assets of the company".

The news was the latest twist in the most astonishing tale of a cash shell I have ever come across. It goes a long way to explaining why the London Stock Exchange felt it necessary to tighten the rules for Aim's cash shells earlier this year.

The story begins late in 2003, when Crown Corporation listed on Aim at 360p a share with plans to invest in North American companies. Instead, it exchanged multiple contracts with several companies for construction projects in Argentina with a total value of $633m (361m) on completion.

In June last year, it sold the portfolio of utility and construction contracts for $350m to Lambert Financial Investment, its partner in the region, which owned almost 60 per cent of Crown at the time.

As Crown did not pay for the contracts originally, the sale generated a large profit.

It was to use the funds for yet another change of direction - a move into oil and gas in Russia. That decision led to talks early this year with MOS International, a tiny Aim-listed consultancy to the oil industry, where Stuart Pearson was a non-executive director.

Crown was founded by Mariusz Rybak, a Canadian businessman based in Monaco. He had watched the Crown share price fall to about 13p, or about one-tenth of the value of the cash in the company. He asked Mr Pearson to report on what he believed to be the reasons for the fall.

Mr Pearson had spent more than 20 years as a corporate financier with Baker Tilly in northern England but had recently set up Langbar Capital, his own advisory and investment company. He was blunt about Crown's lack of attraction to investors - the promissory notes and certificates of deposit instead of cash, the lack of corporate governance, the offshore base, the Latin American contract deal, and the founders shares, which gave Mr Rybak rights to a large dividend. So Mr Rybak asked him to run it.

He agreed on condition that he get a totally free hand and that Mr Rybak leave the board. Mr Pearson became chief executive in June only after exhaustive due diligence - including several visits to Brazil - which satisfied him that the cash from the promissory notes and the certificates of deposit existed.
The interim report and account shows that Langbar earned 30.9m in interest for the six months to June 30. Pre-tax profit was 18.2m after administrative expenses of 12.7m and earnings per share of 21p.

The comparable figures for Crown for the whole of 2004 was profit of 146.5m following the sale of the construction contracts in Argentina. Earnings per share were 322p.

In a few months, Mr Pearson has accomplished quite a lot. The company changed its named to Langbar International after acquiring Mr Pearson's advisory company for 2m shares. It changed nominated adviser from Nabarro Wells to Arden Partners. At the same time, it raised 4m through placings at 48p, bringing in UK institutional investors. Since then, both Merrill Lynch and Gartmore have bought stakes.

About $290m has been moved from Banco do Brazil to ABN Amro in the Netherlands, pending an acquisition, probably in the financial services sector. The remaining $370m in Brazil has been earmarked for an asset swap into property in Spain and Portugal.

Mr Pearson's plan is to spin off both the European acquisition and the property company, leaving his advisory company listed on Aim. A fortnight ago, Langbar agreed to acquire Real Affinity, an Aim-listed marketing services company, in an all-share deal valuing it at 2.6m.

He understood that Mr Rybak, who held about 30 per cent of the equity after waiving a dividend of more than 23m (15.8m) for his founders shares last year, was supporting the plans.

But the fact that the company was in an offer period for Real Affinity compelled Mr Rybak to report his dealings in the company shares.

This week he announced that, so far this month, he has sold 4.2m shares at prices between 55.19p and 64.38p, raising 2.45m. The announcement also revealed that his total stake has fallen to 19.69 per cent.

Mr Rybak could not be contacted for comment this week. At the last annual meeting - held in Monaco in July - only one shareholder other than Mr Rybak was present.

Presumably a few more will be asking questions at the emergency shareholder meeting that must be held soon to approve the increase in share capital for the Real Affinity deal.

Dil, im doing fine, still in cloggyland, still punting the markets tho no so much on the GGs , dont have the weekend time!! Nipper is 5 so fotoball training and all the other things that go with it!!

As for LGB, Ive made aload of calls and am very confident the money in Holland is safe, they take the cheque as tarrant would say, now you might as well answer this one as you money in ABN Amro is safe.

Where the Brazilian money?!!! A B C OR D!!!!

The independant RAF people have discounted the BOB money in agreeing the takeover, if its there then good if it aint then 78p is still a fair price for shares backed with 90p cash.
the RAF shareprice backs that up to.

The shares are only 50p due to selling, the price before the selling was 80p ish!!

Ryback probably thought unless they break up the co which they agreed not to (maybe against his wishes) he wouldnt be able to shift all his shares for more than 60p and rather than ait he started to sell, )rem he sold a load before the t/o probably at 80 and 90p!!!

i will repeat what i posted this morning in a slightly different format!

Also posted it on iii!


After my conversation with the CEO of RAF i firmly believe the Dutch money is safe and the asset under question in the Brazil one!!

The advisers to RAF have discounted the BoB money from the Langbar when agreeing to the 78p offer.

Ryback has been selling from a quid down to 50p maybe average around 75p.

If you were a cash shell with 90p cash you would expect your share price to be around 75-80p

The only reason we got to 50p was heavy selling, however reputable institutions we starting to pick up stock, which makes me believe they also know the dutch money is safe and the brazil money would be a nice extra!!

In my posts earlier - AFN I said Elliots called the bluff and then dumped what you fail to see lets explain in simple terms you get a cheque you put it in your account for some days the money shows but you cannot touch it simplistic terms to highlight Holland the cheque is deposited from BOB but not cleared yet will it bounce ? LGB raised through placing money to use suggested buying RAF via shares not cash do they have any cash Brazil and Holland both dodgy countries for financial movements IMO the balance shown in Brazil is it real is it not is it just an Ryback knows 100% SP does not know anything as the new boy in Ryback sells his stake and sells in hiding so who knows best ?-

Go back go back to Lambert south America funny money illicit money and you may find the problem -

Hate to say it feel sad for all holders but LGB might never return from suspension hope it does for all your sakes

All IMO DYOR !


http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8209-1827462,00.html


Riddle of Langbars Brazil cash

Alternative Investment Market has its share of spivvy companies but Langbar, which had its stock suspended last week, takes some beating.
Behind this firm is Mariusz Rybak, a Canadian who floated a cash shell called Crown Corporation in 2003. The biggest investor, putting in $270m, was the Lambert Foundation, the investment vehicle of 2,000 South American Jews.
Somehow the investment nearly doubled in value after Rybak sold a failed PFI contract. The money was then used to spin out a pharmaceuticals company that did nothing.
Last year, some bright spark decided Crown wasnt working. Stuart Pearson, a financier at Baker Tilly, came on board, injected some of his corporate boutique interests and became chief executive, renaming the group Langbar. Apart from the smart new name, its only asset was $600m of cash in Brazil. It was enough to attract Gartmore, Merrill Lynch and Henderson, which invested in a rights issue last year.

Except last week there was a hitch nobody can find the cash in fact it may never have existed in the first place.

And Rybak? Oh, he is in Monaco and could not be contacted.

like i posted earlier, the mystery deepens,

i just hope for us all its just a misunderstaning

Ryzbak looks like a rum character all right - he must know that his action has caused a major problem for the company but has so far failed to comment. Not that I believe the Times has made any serious attempt to contact him.
Major fly in the Times "story" is that Pearson & Wood would not have had "long and protracted" negotiations with the BoB over non existent money. I ceased buying the (Sunday) Times years ago after seeing how some of their people operate to create stories. They cause the damage and then move on, rather like some people on these BB's.
The Times might also explain how LGB declared almost $31M in interest in its last interims - if it had no cash.
There are also many other errors of fact -its hard to imagine how any editor would allow such a shoddy piece to pass.