Pontus Marine, an Exposé

[CilmiDoone]

I think if this company is asking Somalis to invest their hard-earned monies in its venture, it is only fair that prospective investors should recieve a full independent analysis of the pros, cons and risks of this investment opportunity so that they are able to make an informed decision whether to invest or not.

If anyone here is planning to invest in this Pontus Marine venture I would STRONGLY advise against doing so...

More detail to follow.

[CilmiDoone]

First of all I would suggest that prospective applicants read the share issuance information memorandum. It is detailed and quite lenghty but very insightful. Any serious investor should read it and absorb every word of it.

http://www.pontusmarine.com/uploads/2/1 ... ine_im.pdf

[CilmiDoone]

U.S, Canadian, Australian Somalis Need Not Apply

1.This share issuance is not open to citizens or residents of Canada, Japan, Australia. Nor can another person or organisation apply on behalf of, or with
a view to, the offer, sale or delivery, directly or indirectly, to, or for the benefit of, any person or resident of Canada, Japan, Australia or any other Jurisdiction where the Offer cannot lawfully be made.

So if you are a Somali residing in or hold dual citizenship one of which is those aforementioned countries, you cannot legally hold shares in or receive dividends from Pontus Marine.

2.The New Shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States. In addition, the Company has not been and will not be registered under the United States Investment Company Act of 1940 (as amended). No Application will be accepted if it bears an address in, or appears to have been posted from within, the United States.

This share issuance is not open to citizens or residents of the United States.

3.Company Share Structure

The Authorised Share Capital of the Company shall be 50 million Redeemable “A” Shares with a par value of USD $0.99 (ninety nine UScent) per share and 50 million Ordinary “B” Shares with a par value of USD $0.01 (one US cent) per share.

A redeemable share is a share that once bought by a shareholder, can/will be bought back by the company from the shareholder at par value. So in this case redeemable shares will be bought back at the purchase price ($0.99 cents), shareholders of this type of share will not receive a dividend (share of the profits) and they will not carry voting rights. An ordinary share is what people talk about whent they refer to a 'share'. An ordinary share that in most circumstances is not bought back from the shareholder, allows the shareholder to vote and are equally eligible for a dividend.

4. For the purpose of this private placement, the Company shall issue to the investors taking up this Offer for subscription; 5 million New Redeemable “A” Shares at USD $0.99 and 5 million New Ordinary “B” Shares at USD $0.01. Any person acquiring New Ordinary “B” Shares must also subscribe for an identical number of New Redeemable “A” Shares.

The Redeemable “A” Shares will not carry voting rights but will be fully redeemable by the Company, such that no dividend will be paid by the Company until such time as all the holders of the Redeemable “A” Shares receive from the Company an amount equal to the issue price for the Redeemable “A” Shares. When all the Redeemable “A” Shares are redeemed they will be cancelled. The Ordinary “B” Shares shall carry pro-rata pre-emption rights for all shareholders and the full voting rights in the Company.

No dividend shall be paid by the Company until such time as all the holders of the Redeemable “A” Shares receive back an amount equal to their initial investment of USD $0.99 per share. Thereafter, dividends shall attach to the Ordinary “B” Shares in accordance with each party’s holding in that class of share

This means that a maximum of $50,000 of ordinary B shares are available and the remainder of the shares are $4,950,000 in redeemable A shares. Holders of redeemable A shares will not receive dividends, have no voting right and will after 3-4 years be bought out at the purchase price (USD $0.99) without having made any profit or return on investment. This will be a negative return on investment when you take into consideration the time value of money (money loses value over time if it is not invested), inflation and the opportunity cost (you could have generated a better return on investment by investing your money elsewhere e.g. in a house). Even holders of Ordinary B shares will lose money because they have to buy equal amounts of Redeemable shares A.

5. The minimum amount of capital to be raised by the Company under this Offer will be USD $2,500,000 in Redeemable “A” Shares (the Minimum Subscription Condition).

If the company does not raise this amount of money, all those people who made applications to buy shares will be repaid their monies. If the company raises this minimum capital, the project will go ahead.

6. Invicta has been appointed by the Company as the promoter of the Offer and, subject to the satisfaction of the Minimum Subscription Condition, will be paid a fee under the terms of its Promoter’s Agreement with the Company equal to 6.5 % of the Funds Deployed. The Chairman of the Company shall be awarded a director fee of USD $40,000 per annum and be reimbursed travel and associated expenditure when travelling on behalf of the Company. Ahmed Abillahi Mahamoud shall be paid a salary for his full time services in Somaliland of USD $48,000 per annum. All other (2) directors of the Company shall be paid a director fee of USD $30,000 per annum and all directors of the Company shall be reimbursed travel and associated expenditure when travelling on behalf of the Company. For each day that the Chief Executive is in Somaliland or Somalia conducting Company business the Company shall pay him against production of invoice a day rate fee of USD $450 per day. The Finance and Technical Directors may also render additional professional services for the Company for which they shall render fee notes on terms to be approved by the Board.The Board of Directors of the Company shall at its first meeting appoint an Advisory Board. he Advisory Board shall be remunerated on terms to be approved by the board of directors of the Company.

$5 million is not a lot of money, it is £3.25 million pounds in todays money. Now, let's have a look at how the company will spend this money that it will raise from the share issue. You will be surprised by how much will go to "costs", "fees", and "remuneration" to the board of directors. So as you can see above, 6.5% ($325,000) of the funds raised will be given straight to Invicta capital (owned by the same guy who is leading the scheme) as "promoter fee".

Total fees over the first 4 years:
$325,000 Invicta (one off)
$160,000 Chairman fee
$192,000 Ahmed Abillahi Mahamoud fee
$240,000 two other directors (Derek Keogh, Keith Gubbin)
$450 (per day spent in Somalia) Chief Executive
+ Unspecified Annual salary for Unspecified number of Advisory Board members
+ Unspecified travel and accomodation expenses
+ Unspecified "proffessional charges"
____________________________________
= $917,000
+ $450 (per day spent in Somalia) Chief Executive
+ Unspecified Annual salary for Unspecified number of Advisory Board members
+ Unspecified travel and accomodation expenses
+ Unspecified "proffessional charges"

So >20% of the money raised through the share issue will be spent just on salary and wages.

No financial information is given at all on the on the detailed commercial activities of the company: who it intends to target as customers, who its competitors are, potential revenues, profits or costs of the company. They just say that they expect a return on investment of 20% (a figure they have plucked out of thin air).

All in all, although there may well be potential in the fisheries industry in Somalia, the share issue of this venture to me does not look like its a good deal at all for a prospective investor.

[CilmiDoone]

BUMP!

This kind of shit makes me so angry. Poor unknowing elderly men, women and gullible youngaters will inveat their money in this scheme, strusting this guy juat because he is Somali. and it will only benefit this guy and his white associates.

[CilmiDoone]

Bump! Theyve not been able able to raise the $5 million and have extended the share offer deadline.

DO NOT INVEST YOUR MONEY!

[Arabman]

Good read, and thanks for the advice.

[HooBariiska]

Bump! Theyve not been able able to raise the $5 million and have extended the share offer deadline.

DO NOT INVEST YOUR MONEY!

Why dont u want us to invest?