Malone lifts stake

IINET founder and managing director Michael Malone has increased his stake in the company to almost 20 per cent, shelling out $4.3 million. The move by Mr Malone comes after a tumultuous period for iiNet during which the share price halved after a month-long trading halt as the company unveiled a number of financial anomalies. The average price of his purchase was around 68 cents, significantly below the 85 cents placement price per share to Sydney telco Powertel Ltd, or the 83 cent average price achieved by Perth-based Amcom Telecommunications Ltd when it bought almost 20 per cent of iiNet after it resumed trading. Mr Malone’s company, Perth Internet Pty Ltd, bought 6,250,000 iiNet Ltd shares worth $4.2 million last week. Officially, the holding was diluted from 18.9 million shares (23.79 per cent) to 24.3 million shares (19.97 per cent), though this was due to the placement to Powertel, which diluted Mr Malone’s position.