MFS cuts back on fiddling but not on feeding
A report by Mark Hawthorne in The Age says that according to legend, the Emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned around him and could this the story be told of the managers of MFS, the sponsor of this week’s Women’s Australian Open?
With the embattled property group teetering on the brink of collapse, MFS staff will turn on the corporate charm at Huntingdale this week.
MFS has $150 million of debt due to be paid within weeks, and this week froze $770 million of investments in its Premium Income Fund for six months, amid a run on redemptions from its 10,000 investors.
Despite the financial woes, guests of MFS will not be expected to bring their own sandwiches, but with the company struggling to find that $150 million, not one director of MFS is scheduled to show up at Huntingdale to visit the company’s corporate marquee.
Photos of chairman Andrew Peacock, chief executive Craig White and directors Rolf Krecklenberg, Paul Manka, Barry Cronin and Geoff Williams supping on canapes while investors do their dough, would not be a good image for the stricken company.
Instead of directors, the marketing team will enjoy a weekend out at Huntingdale. Two members of the marketing team have been sent to Melbourne to entertain guests, but they had better make hay while the sun shines. Golf Australia is scouting for new sponsors, even though MFS has two years to run on its contract. Despite the pessimism at Golf Australia, MFS says it has no plans to pull the plug.
“Our expectation, at this stage, is that we will honour the remaining two years on that five-year contract,” said MFS chief executive of sales and distribution Stuart Donaldson.
Donaldson could not confirm if high-profile chairman Andrew Peacock or new CEO Craig White would turn up.
“We will have a good crew down there, I assure you, as we have many business partners and contacts in Melbourne. Without the full guest list in front of me, I can’t say which directors will or won’t be in attendance or on which days,” Donaldson said.
A spokeswoman for MFS confirmed that no directors of MFS, including the chairman, would be at the event.
The talk about town is that the Victoria Racing Clubis also nervous about its sponsorship future with MFS. The company sponsors the Melbourne Cup carnival.
“You don’t hand out six-figure sponsorship cheques while selling off parts the company,” said one Flemington insider.
A Report by The Mole from The Age
John Alwyn-Jones
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