PARKALGAR E MALALA – ALGO EM COMUM? IMPROVÁVEL. OU NÃO…
Hoje, em vez de opiniões ou de notícias, tenho apenas perguntas para colocar aos meus seguidores e leitores. Para poderem refletir sobre estes assuntos e acharem as respostas a cada uma delas, se é que conseguirão. Eu, infelizmente, não consigo, pelos mais vários motivos a que certamente não serão estranhas a minha falta de capacidade e uma inacreditável ingenuidade que, apesar da idade, deve estar ligada dos princípios com que fui formado.
E, desculpem algo que, como jornalista, não devia sequer pensar: não me apetece mais “dar murro em ponta de faca”, como se diz no Brasil, a “remar contra a maré” e a tentar descobrir as coisas quando os meus colegas ainda na ativa, em OCS de responsabilidade no seu serviço de informar, não o fazem. Uns apenas por desinteresse, outros por falta de coragem, outros ainda porque “não é conveniente” a este ou aquele lobby. Ou meramente por incompetência em cumprir o seu papel perante a sociedade. Ora vejamos:

AIA – o mistério ou o “milagre da reprodução dos pães”, em leasing…

Depois de ler com atenção as crónicas do Paul Rees aqui publicadas nas passadas semanas, fico, realmente, sem saber que tipo de operação(ões) foram engendradas para resolver o problema do AIA. Se é que o problema foi , ou começou a ser resolvido.
A Portugal Capital Ventures afinal não comprou nada, não investiu nada, nem o AIA (infraestrutura do circuito), nem a Parkalgar, nem os “famosos” apartamentos e o “famoso” hotel começados a construir há cinco anos?
E, como fica o ainda mais “famoso” PER aprovado por um juiz que “apenas iria apreciar os assuntos jurídicos”, segundo justificou aos poucos credores que se opuseram a esse plano baseado em fantasiosas premissas de modelo de negócio e de marketing? Embora tenha justificado a sua inimaginável aprovação com argumentos mercadológicos. Em que país vivemos, afinal? Numa cotada?
Em afinal que estória de leasings para cá e para lá por valores não revelados, são esses? Quem toma que leasing a quem? Avalisados por quem?
Certamente que está tudo certo, pois, segundo a Parkalgar, vai haver um lucro este ano de €3,8 Milhões. Onde? Somos todos idiotas?...
E, já agora, como fica a venda, quem vai vender os apartamentos para que os pequenos credores (alguns com €2,5 e €5 Milhões “a arder”) possam começar a receber 30% dos seus créditos? Como está a ser gerido tudo isso? Estarei num país sério onde um PER aprovado por um juiz não a mínima hipótese de ser levado a cabo? Inacreditável – não será muita inocência ou burrice minha?
Terá sido tudo por causa da crise? Porque os parceiros eram irlandeses, os primeiros a cair (agora já de pé) na Europa? Foi tudo pouca sorte? Ou foi falta de visão e de boa gestão? Será que há alguém nas entidades responsáveis por este projeto – desde os ex-membros do Governo ou da Autarquia Socialista a gestores do BCP, a dirigentes de entidades de turismo – que possa explicar aos contribuintes como estão a ser geridos os seus impostos ou os seus investimentos?
Haverá alguém que possa responder? Por exemplo, alguém da Parkalgar? Ou do Ministério Público? Ou do Governo, tão preocupado com todos os pormenores impostos – alguns muito bem, claro – pela Troika de inspiração alemã?

Aplausos para “boi dormir” do Parlamento Europeu à lição de Malala.

Foi muito lindo ver todos os deputados do Parlamento Europeu de pé a aplaudir a jovem ativista paquistanesa Malala Yousafzai esta semana a receber o Prémio Sakharov de direitos humanos e liberdade de pensamento, que lhe concederam.
Mas, será que aplaudiam de fato Malala e o recado que ela lhes deu e deu ao mundo, ou aplaudiam a justeza da sua escolha num autoelogio?
Será que ouviram bem o que Malala disse ao mundo na passada quarta-feira diante deles? Que “57 milhões de crianças estão à vossa espera e que não esperam um IPhone, uma Xbox, ou um chocolate. Essas crianças apenas querem é um livro e uma caneta!”.
Será que os deputados europeus, será que os europeus, os norte-americanos, todos os que têm liberdade de pensar, de ganhar dinheiro, de sobreviver se lembrarão disso quando forem aos Shoppings comprar os seus objetos de ilusória afirmação social, se lembrarão desses milhões de crianças presas à ignorância, famintas tanto de comida como de liberdade de ensino? Será? Ou pensarão apenas na próxima eleição e das benesses de deputados europeus? Ficarão satisfeitos quando receberem autorização da Alemanha para enviar uns míseros milhões de dólares para o Paquistão ou para África? E os seus eleitores também ficam contentes e de pé a aplaudir?
Será que podemos todos ficar à espera destas perguntas? Ilusão minha, certamente? Mas, vou mesmo esperar. Deitado, para não me cansar… Não acham?

Aguardo os vossos comentários, ou nada disto interessa e move a passividade dos portugueses?

Algarve Autodrome not owned by the taxpayer at all

Written by Paul Rees - Algarve Daily News                             

“Portugal Capital Ventures has the green light to manage the Algarve Autodrome” so read the most recent statement from the competition commission. News of the takeover and ownership of the Autodrome by a venture capital company responsible to the taxpayer was nothing of the sort.
 Portugal Capital Ventures has been authorised to own part of a new company, Parkalgar Services, for an undisclosed investment, which is to lease the Portimao race track and karting track from the existing company Parkalgar for an undisclosed sum.

This new company is not buying anything on behalf of the taxpayer as had been suggested, and has amongst its shareholders the original management of Parkalgar, by which we assume it means Paulo Pinheiro and maybe others on the failed management team.
“The karting track and the racing track are going to be exploited by Portugal Capital Ventures,” which is not strictly the case as the new company Parkalgar Services is to lease the race tracks and operate them, not Portugal Capital Ventures which has a less than 100% shareholding in the new company.

The organisation, whose newly elected president is António Ferreira Gomes, said that the Competition Act is not compromised as Portugal Capital Ventures is to control Parkalgar Services, a newly formed company, distinct from Parkalgar which is the original promoter of those assets.

The State is in fact running two circuits, Estoril which seems to have picked up Formula 1 certification this week, and the autodrome in Portimao. Already there is conflict over pricing.

after news that Estoril autodrome had received a Super Licence - the highest class of racing licence issued by the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile).
Manuel Mello Breyner confirmed that FPAK would now attempt to make Estoril a test track for Formula One drivers. - See more at: http://portugalresident.com/formula-one-heading-back-to-estoril#sthash.rmoQkLsG.dpuf

after news that Estoril autodrome had received a Super Licence - the highest class of racing licence issued by the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile).
Manuel Mello Breyner confirmed that FPAK would now attempt to make Estoril a test track for Formula One drivers. - See more at: http://portugalresident.com/formula-one-heading-back-to-estoril#sthash.rmoQkLsG.dpuf

Anyway, this is semantics as the new controller of the racetrack is Portugal Capital Ventures if it owns, as suspected, more than 50% of the new Parkalgar Services company.

“Parkalgar Services will acquire exclusive control of the international racing circuit in the Algarve, the international kart track and the all-terrain track.” But the new company will only be leasing these assets and will not own them. The capital will still be held by the original Parkalgar company, so the state, i.e. the taxpayer owns nothing, but has picked up an undisclosed liability for a new lease agreement for the racetracks in what has proved to be a highly volatile business where large losses seem all too easy to achieve.
 At least Correio da Manhã spotted that this ‘rescue’ deal by Portugal Capital Ventures is nothing of the sort as the new company set up to lease the autodrome is only partly owned by PCV and is only leasing the asset over which the existing creditors may well have a floating charge. Certainly the original bank, BCP, that is owed over €100 million would not want one of the main Parkalgar assets leased out for a term not yet divulged.

Parkalgar went to court to agree a Special Revitalization Plan (PER) which resulted in the 288 creditors taking a 70% haircut on monies owed and the promise that as the hotel and apartments are sold off they would get paid.
The process of forming Parkalgar Services allows "another step forward in achieving the PER, according to Portugal Capuital Ventures,” but without income from running racing events it may be hard for Parkalgar to finish the building work and service the existing bank debts. Its remaining income will only be from any lease payments for the racetracks from the new company Parkalgar Services. On the plus side it will not be in the position of having to cover trading losses.

This notification from the competition commission lapses into business mumbo-jumbo - “The intention is to create a stable financial framework that will allow the profitability of investments in infrastructure relevant to the regional economy and the promotion of tourism, contributing to the reduction of seasonality of the region.”
In summary, Portugal Capital Ventures is not going to own any tangible assets at the Autodrome but now has the liability of a lease agreement and for the accumulation of any trading losses.
 The management of the original Parkalgar company, which needed rescuing twice, now has a minority financial interest in the new company set up to lease the autodrome and put on events.
So the new company that was said to be rescuing the Autodrome has no assets, unless it has put money into the new venture. No real assets seem to have been transferred as this is a lease agreement. Main creditors BCP would be in a good position to protect its own shareholders by blocking any such lease of the Autodrome buildings, unless it somehow is involved in an agreement that has yet to come to light.

Without seeing a valuation of the apartments and of the hotel it is impossible to know whether the sale of these would cover the money owed to Parkalgar’s creditors.

If it does not, then the only income left for Parkalgar is from the lease agreement payments from the new Parkalgar Services company which may well be insufficient to pay off the balance. If the new Parkalgar Services company is a huge successs and money rolls in, this is of no benefit to the current creditors as the operting company is a different company to the original Parkalgar with no obligation to pay another company's debts. If it makes a mint and distributes profits to shareholders, the original Parkalgare company may hold such a small shareholding that its dividend income is insignificant when compared to its liabilities.
The question remains as to how the new Parkalgar Services will turn a €4.3 million operating loss into a €3.8 million profit in 12 months, as has been suggested by Parkalgar to the press.
The 288 creditors are still to be paid, under the terms of the existing PER agreement, from the sale of the apartments and the hotel, although Parkalgar may struggle to complete these buildings and service the debt as its primary income now is from a lease agreement for the autodrome.

Parkalgar still has underlying assets. Parkalgar Services has no known assets and the liability of a lease of unknown length and cost.

So the description of Portugal Capital Ventures buying the autodrome and running it on behalf of the taxpayer is a long way short of accurate.

Venture Capital companies normally make returns by raising, some would say inflating, the market value of their assets, so investments in property and land are foremost in their thinking. The lease agreement between Portugal Capital Ventures and Parkalgar sits outside the usual modus operandi so where is the return going to come from?

The shareholders of Portugal Ventures are listed as
      IAPMEI - Portuguese SME Support and Innovation Institute
     AICEP Portugal Global - Trade and Investment Agency
     Turismo de Portugal - Portuguese Tourism Authority
     DGTF - Directorate General of Treasury and Finance of the Portuguese Ministry of Finance
      Banco BPI - Portuguese Bank
     Millennium BCP - Portuguese Bank
     Banco Espírito Santo - Portuguese Bank
     Banco Santander Totta - Portuguese Bank
     Petróleos de Portugal - Portuguese Oil Company
     Companhia de Seguros Açoreana - Portuguese Insurance Company
     Citibank Portugal - Portuguese Bank
     Banco Efisa - Portuguese Bank
     Montepio Geral - Portuguese Bank
     Banco BIC - Portuguese Bank

With so many banks represented it seems a suspiciously benign deal for those above to rely on a decent return from Parkalgar Services trading its way to profit.

Creditors have not yet been contacted over the terms of the new deal and have no way of seeing if they have been cut out, are being fully catered for, whether they can ever expect any repayment. This lack of communication is nothing new.

The creditors focus is on the hotel and apartments, are they finished and saleable? Part of the PER agreement was for Parkalgar to be advanced a further €10 million to pay Bemposta to finish the job. This is almost exactly the amount that Bemposta is owed so why should it undertake more work and still be €10 million in debt?
Where now does the big creditor, BCP, sit on the deal? It is unlikely to have agreed to anything that would see its debt put at risk.

So many questions and, as yet, so few answers…

AIA – INTERNATIONAL AUTODROME OF THE ALGARVE
HAS THE PUBLIC BEEN DUPED?
By Paul Rees – Algarve Daily News
 nt ·Emai “Portugal Capital Ventures has acquired exclusive control over Parkalgar Serviços SA and consequently gains sole control over assets that make up a commercial establishment located in Portimão”, so read the statement issued to the press by Portugal’s “Autoridade da Concorrência” (Competition Authority) in September this year.

It is the definition of ‘exclusive control’ that now is worrying the financial and motor racing sectors, keen to see the racetrack succeed under new ownership and new directors, but are new brooms sweeping clean?

If Portugal Capital Ventures owns 100% of Parkalgar, as it has let everyone believe, including the Autoridade da Concorrência, then why are there numerous shareholders listed on its share register with not one of them listed as 'Portugal Capital Ventures'?
The shareholding schedule is a mess of detail with Autodromo International do Algarve owning 1.3 million Category ‘A’ preferential shares but with no note as to what powers these shares have.  There are the original nepotistic junior shareholdings, Parkalagar and builder Bemposta are family affairs after all, which may explain why every creditor has taken a haircut apart from building company Bemposta. The Portimão based builder of the autodrome was owed €10.3 million before the recent financial restructuring and was still owed €10.3 afterwards. The family relationship between Parkalgar and Bemposta with directors owning shares in each was not good practice in a project of this scale and ‘national importance.’

Even the bankers BCP took a hit, as did the common creditors including Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone (€3.2 million owed to his company GP2 Ltd), Oceanational Motor (€4.9 million – owner of the Portuguese Ocean Racing Technology team of which Tiago Monteiro is the public face) and Infront Motor Sports Organisation (€1.3 million – Superbike World Championship organisers) along with local companies that had the financial misfortune to work on the Autodrome project.
There is also an unexplained change in the articles of association of the company which is not made clear, and there is no note of to whom the last two capital increases (€4,491 and €9,988,272) were issued, taking the total capital issued to €11,372,368.
So the ownership appears not to have changed at all and therefore deep suspicions exist as this could be similar to many of the ‘deals’ by private equity firms similar to Portugal Capital Ventures where leveraged buy-outs of companies are announced with fanfare but using no real money, with ensuing kickbacks and cushy jobs to public officials. Later any real assets, land in this case, are transferred to the new company while leaving the ‘loans’ in the lap of the hapless and impotent taxpayer.

While not wishing to judge until the facts are made clear, the famous quote by F. Ross Johnson, former president of RJR Nabisco, comes to mind: "Never play by the rules, never pay in cash and never tell the truth." Let's hope Portugal Capital Ventures is not playing by the RJR Nabisco rules. Of course, Johnson could have added another mantra, "Make sure, in any deal, we get most of the profits while costs end up with someone else."
The above lines are not accusations, they are warnings. The point is that the devil should never be in the lawyers' detail; any relevant and important information should be explicit and understood by anyone who is numerate and literate. It seems that many modern press announcements by venture capital companies are designed to mislead or leave out key details, rather than to inform. The public could get the impression that CEOs of private equity firms imagine that the general public are just plain stupid.
As for the current Parkalgar shareholders list, it defies commercial logic to retain the services of Paulo Pinheiro as a director of the ‘new’ Parkalgar. He was the director under whose directorship Parkalgar needed rescuing twice, first in a formal Processo Especial de Revitalização de Empresas where small, and not so small creditors were railroaded by Bemposta and bankers BCP to agree to a deal whereby they were to receive a small percentage of their money, money (30% paid only after the apartments began to be sold off i.e. spread over many years.) Secondly in the latest rescue by Portugal Capital Ventures whose triumphant arrival was ostensibly to take control of the business, restructure and manage it properly, and probably sell it on to a company with experience in running this type of composite business which includes a racetrack, real estate, an hotel, a kartodrome, and a planned technology park.

Portugal Capital Ventures has announced through the Autoridade de Concorrência that it controls Parkalgar and hence the Autodrome and associated infrastructures and partially built hotel and accommodation areas. Eyebrows were raised at the approval of the takeover as the Autoridade da Concorrência must have known that there are two other permanent circuit in Portugal – Braga, privately owned, and Estoril, totally owned by Parpública Participaçoes Públicas, SGPS, SA, the state owned company that manages assets on behalf of the public. If it does not own Parkalgar's share capital it is hard for the public to understand how it controls the business. If Portugal Capital Ventures has somehow taken over the business without owning a single share in Parkalgar, the public should be told.
The current mystery, and hence concern, over the actual ownership of Parkalgar, and the suspicious retention of a director under whose direction the business took several wrong turns, sets alarm bells ringing across the racing world and the financial industry in Portugal that does not need any further upset as it tries to rebuild confidence in the aftermath of the crisis and of various banking scandals.

It should also set alarm bells ringing in Portugal's  political world as if this is a set up of some sort it will inevitably end up with the venture capital company winning out and the taxpayer being left with the bill.
This whole project has been smeared with a political brush since the time of Jose Socrates' premiership and the partially successful under-the-counter funding of the Tiago Monteiro racing team.
Portugal Capital Ventures needs urgently to explain its plans and the Algarve's MPs need to start asking some detailed questions in parliament as to how a venture capital company can ‘rescue’ a business, announce complete control yet seem not to own a single share.

These questions are even more pertinent given some of the recent scandals in the last few years, including the one involving the purchase of three German submarines from Ferrostaal which was heavily criticised by MEP Ana Gomes. Bribery of Portuguese middle men has been proved in a German court yet nobody yet has been accused in Portugal.

With Parkalgar’s apparent maze of shareholdings listed in the register, which seems to conceal more than it reveals, let's hope there are no contracts with directors (or anyone else) that have unforeseen consequences. Two appointments stick out from the list of Parkalgar’s directors; Jaime Trindade Bernardes Costa of Buisiness Consulting Services- Consultores de Gestao Lda, and Rui Luis Dias Pereira de Sousa from the Lisbon School of Economics. Neither of these eminent men would seem to be from the Venture Capital company although they may ‘represent its interests.’

The public needs clarity and to be assured that this deal is not one where a few financiers will benefit and the public end up footing the bill, followed by a public enquiry and assurances that this “will never happen again.”

This is especially important in a deal which seems to involve both private and public capital. It's not just a question of who owns what now, it's primarily a question of who will own what in the near future, including any profits, losses and share options – and the land.

Who is looking after the interests of the 288 small creditors? Is is easier to run a business as complex as Parkalgar knowing that if anything goes wrong the smaller original  suppliers are way down the creditors list and if the business fails again, the state, ie the taxpayer, will pick up the financial pieces.

It will also be interesting for Portimão ratepayers to know how much money its recklessly overspent council has shovelled into the autodrome project, but we will leave that for another day ...

Copyright: Algarve Daily News