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 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.

well said iturama, it's either that or the biggest swindle in history and Pearson will be facing a long stretch behind bars. I doubt the latter and think that he has suspended the shares to get the sp up to a realistic level once and for all. The accountants having certified that the money exists will mean the sp re-commence at around 1.50 ish. I must say though that Rybak selling is a worry! why on earth would he do that? Maybe he just thinks it too good to be true aswell and is tired in waiting, wants that new yaht, after all he still holds 19%.

a bit of reality here guys...you know i am the last to ramp/deramp but this stock just stinks. FT, Times and Sunday Times have all lambasted this with accusations in AIM's direction and the old cash shell rules. These guys should be jailed but unfortunately the journos are right (for once) he is in Monaco, unavailable for comment....doubt we will see the stock return and remember the adage, follow the director dealings, 19 out of 20 are correct!

Or in the case of Rybak, 19% out of 100% remaining are correct - lol!

I do think this is a case of no smoke without fire. No one wants a share suspended, unless for specific and declared technical capital re-structuring, so any other suspension is 50% bad already, leaving the outcome 50/50 on the remaining 50% - that's a 75 to 25 against proposition. As proptrade says, smelly, indeed.

If I am wrong, I will happily wish all winners the same congratulations I would a lucky lottery ticket holder (in the hope they would want to share some of their success with ME!!)

sd

Prop
We must be reading different articles. Neither the FT, nor the Times, "lambasted" the company. The Times Online has many errors of fact and can hardly be called good investigative journalism.
Its worth repeating the last three paras from the FT article:
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.

RAF was the first target for Pearson, modest but a good buy which releases LGB from the cash shell category and gives him an administrative base to look for more substantial acquisitions at leisure.

iturama - any news of the mooted provision of capital to a jv with MOI on the horizon, folllowing the resounding success of the RAF investment?

sd

can ANYONE point me towards a stock where insiderinside is a bull? he posts a lot of negative stuff thinly disguised as research on several threads. maybe the seo guys are right and hes a paid lackey for the mms?

superod, ii gave tpa the thumbs up. sp was about 19p when he did.

SD

I think Pearson might surprise a few people. If the FT is right and he did carry out "exhaustive due diligence" then this should all turn out to the good.
Anyhow I am off to S Paulo tomorrow - who knows I might hear something!

iturama

you are clearly well informed and i belive you have a very valid argument. my point is that i have seen situations like this a few times before and feel that something is not right. Pearson should have spoken out as to the intent of the RNS (ie valuation for new investors/institutions). it is all a bit too cloudy right now.

i really do hope it comes right and do agree that the reporting can be erroneous at the best of times.

rgds
PT

I have seen shares suspended at the request of the company before. Normally, this means they think the sp is undervalued as it clearly is here if the money exists. There is nothing to doubt that it exists as this would mean the whole business in Brazil, the selling off of the contracts, the due dilligence, the confirmation from the Brazilian Bank, and the Dutch one, is all a tissue of lies. Is that likely? As i said before, that would mean the biggest scandal of all time and certain people facing imprisonment. As Pearson has stated, the rumours on these internet boards are ridiculous and damaging to the sp. No, I believe that Pearson wants to get this matter clear for investors and wants the sp up. Anyone in before suspension should make a tidy sum. Anyone thats not, wants it to start trading low to jump in, but it's too late, theres no way these are going to trade sub 1 again in my opinion. Previous Directors subsequently detached from the co often liquidate part of their holding, they're no more in the know than the rest of us and is often badly timed, look at AEX recently.

You are definetily right because if the money was not there I think someone from ABN bank would have called LSE and telling them the real story about the money deposited with them and LSE was certainly going to find out and requesting themselfs to suspend the shares for investigation. After all how someone from a listed company on LSE can come out saying they have such amount of money deposited in ABN bank, don' t worry about just trust us and you will make lots of money with us. Is someone assuming that for istance I can open an account let' s say with Barclay of 200 pound and pubblicly I say that I have 200millions iinstead and inviting investors to invest in my company and get away with it withouth Barclay saying anything? Come on let' s be serious There is no reason to believe that these are all lies because if that should be the case then We should all get the money back from ABN and from LSE because they have let this story going on for too long and doing nothing so cheating all investsors. Do you believe that? No Sir that is impossible could never happen. I wonder if I am too naive and these things can happen. I am just starting to invest in the Stock Market and definetely I do not know how it does work yet maybe some Experts out there can say something about. I am sure that in the end the good news will come out, regard AL

WHY WHY WHY suspend the stock while performing the valuation?????

there is no reason apart from a negative one. on the bank disclosure stuff do you think the Brazilian bank gives a damn what someone in another country is saying. they cannot say anything about accounts! it is up to the LSE or in this case the FSO to investigate.

Ok, but how do you explain that instead to pay the takeover of Real Affinity cash and doing that The Directors of RAF would have pocked the money and forget about. Instead they have preferred having a stake in LGB shares because I think they reckon that it is a good business and the returns on the shares on the long run would yield a much better return than for istance putting the money in a Bank or another investment. So for me it means having faith in LGB and do not forget that Mr Pearson if I am not wrong is one of the DIrectors of RAF. Well someone can say they couldn' t pay cash because they do not have the money as one Newspaper was saying "Where is the money". Maybe can also be that the 289millions dollars they have in Holland that are earning 3.5% are tight up for year or more until the Directors would decide the best way to invest them. So could be that the former Director of CCO didn' t like this operation and he started to sell some shares not all of them, do not forget that it is important. Now if this ex Director new something was not right why not sell all of them? I know all speculations. Well no matter what I do have faith and I would be really surprised if something nasty would come out. Regards AL

AL, has it occured to you that by offered stock at a huge disc the Affinity guys were blinded by greed?? cash was never an option becasue there isn't any!

I am not some bugger trying to goad you here but in this world there are bubbles and there are scoundrels and there are thieves. This investigation was probably instigated by and auditor, lawyer of the LSE. faith is a wonderful thing to have but i feel that a miracle is required

Al, i can't send you a reply back (set it up!) but i appreciate the response and see your view. i really do hope things work out and will be the first to congratulate you if they do.

rgds
PT

llaannddii,

doesn't the RAF mob have a heavy link to Mr S.P. ......how does that fit in ??.....