In this business it pays to sell-out

EIGHT former company directors and families have managed to bypass the global economic downturn, cashing in their shareholdings before the world went belly-up.

The bulk of the sell-outs come from the resources and mining services sectors, an area that revelled at the height of the boom and were subject to foreign and local predators willing to pay the price for a slice of the action.

However it was a Perth construction giant's takeover by a private Canadian equity player that propelled the Roberts family to the top of the sell-out list.

In 2007, Brookfield Asset Management launched a $4.2 billion takeover of the Multiplex Group in one of the biggest acquisitions that year.

The three Roberts children, who owned a combined 26 per cent interest in Multiplex, accepted the $5 per share cash deal, pocketing around $1.1 billion.

The sale of the Roberts' interest was at a time of intense media scrutiny of Multiplex following the death of founder and father John Roberts and cost blowouts at the Wembley Stadium project in London.

Jubilee Mines founder Kerry Harmanis leads the resource sector charge after he sold his 16 per cent stake to global company Xstrata in 2007, at the height of the boom when nickel prices soared to incredible levels.

After the sale, Mr Harmanis became one of the richest people in Australia after netting around $470 million from the deal, which has been cited as the top deal of 2007.

Running at a distant third is Summit Resources founder Alan Eggers after he accepted the $1.2 billion all-scrip takeover offer by Paladin Energy

At the time of acceptance, Mr Eggers' shareholding in Paladin was worth around $197 million.

Mr Eggers told WA Business News that he still retains a bulk of the Paladin interest, which currently stands below 5 per cent.

Mr Eggers is still in the uranium game as managing director of private investment fund Manhattan Resources, which has a stake in Perth-based Uranio.

In the mining services sector, former GRD chairman and chief executive Brettney Fogarty pocketed $120 million from the sale of his 30 per cent stake, with the Seven Network and Macquarie Bank buying about 10 per cent each.

The Clough family has pocketed about $41 million from the sale of shares since Harold Clough stepped down from the board in October 2007.

Late last year the family sold its remaining substantial shareholding for $21.4 million.