White Nile: FSA probe urged
LEGENDARY short-seller Simon Cawkwell has called on the Financial Services Authority to launch a formal inquiry into ex-England cricketer Phil Edmonds' speculative oil stock, White Nile.
In a letter to the regulator, prompted by complaints from White Nile about negative comments made by Cawkwell about the stock in his online diary, the trader ridiculed valuations on White Nile - at present about £430m - as 'utterly absurd'.
He said there was 'more chance of the Queen taking elocution lessons from John Prescott than of White Nile delivering capital gains for current purchasers at this level'.
White Nile claims to have title to Sudan's Ba block but that is disputed by French oil giant Total, noted Cawkwell, also known as Evil Knievil.
'Either Total is right or White Nile is right. My money is on Total,' he wrote.
White Nile shares were suspended for a second time last Friday (at 141p). Officials at Aim took action after becoming worried at sharp movements in the shares.
The suspension came only four days after trading in White Nile recommenced for the first time since February when its shares shot up 13-fold in less than a week, propelling its value from £15m to £214m.
The frenzy of interest in White Nile since its flotation has been sparked by a deal with the new government of South Sudan to explore in an area close to the Kenyan border.
