What’s in a name?
It is not always the case that The Note is drawn to inspect the reasons why a company bears the name it does. We usually have better things to do.
But when advised by the ASX that Cott Oil and Gas was the 899th listed company to call Perth home, we were intrigued enough to grab the prospectus and digitally flick through its pages, densely loaded with geological data, charts and maps.
We could not locate any prospective ground that was located anywhere within the vicinity of Cottesloe, the Perth beachside suburb generally referred to as Cott. Many readers would, no doubt, breathe a sigh of relief. Even those whose fortunes dwell in the world of resources have known to become a bit NIMBY at the prospect of a coal mine going in near their favourite holiday destination. Heaven forbid the idea of an operating drill rig visible from the beach end of Grant Street.
Anyway, perhaps the naming origins lie a little bit closer to the surface than the very resources Cott is chasing.
Not only do company records show managing director and substantial shareholder Andrew Dimsey lives in Cottesloe, but he has form from a previous stage of his career.
He had a past role at Claremont Petroleum. We don’t know if he lived in Claremont back then, but this time he is running the company.
Just for the record, Cott raised more than $6 million and hit the boards on January 4, the first ASX listing for 2013. It was the 20th listing this financial year for Perth, which has 41 per cent of the nation’s 2,188 listed companies.
The Note wonders if there is a race under way to be Perth’s 900th listed company? According to the ASX’s upcoming floats list, the next local listing is due on January 29. The name is, aptly, Perth Resources, an early stage oil and gas exploration company focusing on the onshore Canning and Perth basins.
While the name for that one might seem obvious due to its target, we did a quick check and found none of the directors lived in Perth, at least not postcode 6000.
But it was worth the effort, nonetheless. Perth Resources has a truly interesting board. It includes outspoken climate sceptics Ian Plimer and David Archibald as well as a property player named Matthew Carr, whose details bear close resemblance to a footy player who once played for the Dockers.
That looks like a float that won’t go unnoticed -number 900 or not.
