Bula's wind-up deferred as firm hopes to relist on exchanges

The winding up of Bula Resources has been deferred to next week amid claims that efforts are being made to have the company re-listed.

Bula, a hugely controversial but not particularly successful resources company, was delisted from the Dublin and London exchanges in 2002.

Yesterday a High Court application from Computershare, which is owed some €200,000 by Bula, was deferred at Bula's request. It was the first appearance by Bula in the case.

Computershare supported the application from Bula in the hope that it might eventually receive the money it is owed should the resource company get back on its feet. It is not clear what assets, if any, are currently held by Bula.

Sources said the company hoped that the completion of a deal initiated with parties connected with Libya some years ago would release approximately €1.5 million to the company.

If that were to happen, a number of Irish and foreign investors might be willing to put a further €4 million into the company, which would then seek to be relisted, according to the sources.

In order to be relisted, the company would have to find a sponsoring broker and produce a prospectus satisfactory to the stock exchanges. There are also requirements concerning satisfactory trading over certain periods and it is not clear how Bula could satisfy any such requirement.

There is currently only one Bula director, a Syrian, Mr Omar Yazigi. It is not known where Mr Yazigi resides and he could not be contacted yesterday.

Bula has more than 40,000 shareholders. During 2002, when the shares were suspended but Bula was not yet delisted, it said that securing the Libyan money could save the company. However, it was eventually delisted for failing to satisfy a number of requirements such as financial stability, the filing of accounts and having the required number of directors on its board.

One Nine Investment International and O&M Management Ltd, two companies connected with Libya, were to pay approximately €1.5 million as part of a share deal set up a number of years ago. One Nine is a subsidiary of the Gaddafi International Charitable Foundation and is run by a son of Libyan ruler, Col Muammar Gaddafi.

The suspension of Bula's shares prior to the company being delisted was said by the company at the time to be complicating the completion of the deal.

During 2002, there was sustained controversy concerning a deposit of €1.5 million paid by Bula as part of a deal with an entity in Bahrain. The deal never went ahead but the deposit was not repaid. The deal was negotiated by the former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, who was chairman of Bula Resources from March 1999 until September 2002, when he did not put himself forward for re-election.

In 1998, a Government-appointed inspector published a report into share dealings involving Bula and in which he found that former Bula chairman, Mr Jim Stanley, falsified reports and lied over share ownerships.

The dealings that lay behind the inspector's report involved Bula spending approximately €25 million in disastrous ventures in Siberia, which came to nothing.