The New Zealand backdoor stock exchange listing of internet tycoon Kim Dotcom's company Mega is being marred by the dubious corporate past of its primary shareholder.
Melbourne man Paul Choiselat faces 25 charges from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), the watchdog said in December last year.
Choiselat is the main shareholder of NZ listed TRS Investments Ltd, which is the entity Mega intends to merge with.
ASIC alleged Choiselat manipulated shares of a company called Q Ltd between 2003 and 2009, and made false disclosures of interest in Q Ltd and another comnpany called Jumbuck Entertainment Ltd. The Q Ltd share manipulation case is set down for a committal mention on April 7 this year.
Mega plans to facilitate the reverse listing by merging with TRS Investments in a NZ$210 million (AUD$196 million) deal, with 700 million new shares in TRS being issued to Mega at 30 cents each.
Following a 148 for 1 share capital consolidation, Mega shareholders will be left owning 99 percent of the new entity.
Shares in TRS Ltd jumped by 900 percent, from NZ$0.001 to NZ$0.009, at the time of writing. TRS Ltd provides "corporate training services" and in its latest September 2013 half year report, announced revenue of NZ$2000 and a loss of NZ$12,000.
Kim Dotcom and his Megaupload associates Bram van der Kolk, Mathias Ortmann and Finn Batato are currently awaiting an extradition hearing to find out if they will be handed over to the United States, where they have been indicted for secondary copyright infringement and money laundering.
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