Philips keeps the dream alive at Keybridge
Keybridge Capital harbours plans to build a fresh business similar to that which it has spent the last two years winding down.Repositioned in early 2006 under a management team with experience at Allco and Commonwealth Bank, the firm raised around $260 million in capital. Many of the investments were in senior and junior debt and select transport, energy and property assets.The credit shock scuppered the original vision, and washed away $179 million in capital in the form of accumulated losses, according to the annual report published yesterday.Remaining investments are valued at $232 million in the 2010 accounts, most of them classed as loans although some, such as a solar energy plant in Spain, are equity investment.While the firm is winding down and meeting debt repayment obligations in line with a plan worked in early 2009, the team of six staff and three non-executive directors running the business are thinking of having a second go.Mark Phillips, managing director of Keybridge, wrote in an investor presentation lodged with the ASX that "our objective is to build a long-term business that is involved in areas in which we have experience."Philips did say it was "too early to say what shape this plan will take."