Tomasi leaves SCEE, sells $12m stake

Southern Cross Electrical Engineering founder Frank Tomasi has cashed in about one quarter of his shares in the company, after signalling his intention to retire from the board.

Mr Tomai has sold 18.4 million shares at 68 cents per share, raising a total of $12.5 million.

He retains 46.8 million shares, equal to a 20 per cent holding, and his indicated his intention to not sell further shares for the time being.

Mr Tomasi established SCEE 40 years ago and built it into a major contractor to the mining and oil & gas sectors, in Australia and internationally.

He was executive chairman up to 2008 and non-executive chairman until 2011.

Mr Tomasi has remained on the board since then and intends to retire at the company’s AGM on 30 October.

He led the company though a listing on the ASX in 2007 and in recent years has seen it diversify, with a greater focus on east coast infrastructure projects.

In the year to June 2018, SCEE achieved a 74 per cent lift in revenue to $347 million and posted an underlying net profit of $10.1 million.

Chairman Derek Parkin said the success of SCEE can be traced back to Mr Tomasi.

“His vision created the company in the first place and his untiring commitment, hard work and wisdom have been substantially responsible for building it into what it is today.

“He is leaving the company in a great position and his legacy lives on through the values he has instilled in the business.”

In a statement, Mr Tomasi said SCEE was distinguished by its ability to win repeat business from some of the largest companies in the resources sector.

“I have great confidence in the more recent strategy of diversifying the business and in the outlook for SCEE,” he said.