New Commander denies Steggall link

The mysterious consortium of investors behind the bid for Commander Communications' telco assets has denied any connection to the Steggall family, members of which have been involved in other bids in Australia's telecommunications industry.

"The Steggall name doesn't mean anything to me," a spokesperson from the new Commander Telecom Group told ZDNet.com.au yesterday, adding she couldn't comment further.

Last Friday, McGrathNicol, the administrators handling the sale of Commander Communications' remaining assets, said CTG had made a bid for Commander's telco arm, which included taking on 400 existing Commander staff and its current contracts. The administrators said that CTG was composed of "local and internationally experienced telco investors", however the names of the investors behind the group have been kept under wraps.

Documents obtained by ZDNet.com.au from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission last Friday revealed that CTG's directors had registered the company's principal place of business at Level 6, 404-406 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Another company, RSI Capital Solutions, is listed at Level 6, 406 Collins Street, Melbourne, which, according to separate ASIC documents, has as one of its directors, Neil Steggall — the father of Richard Steggall.

Richard Steggall had been involved in a failed bid to take over New Tel when it went into administration in 2003. The bid was made via Hong Kong-based Broadband & Wireless Ltd (BWL), which had as its director, Ingrid Lim, Richard Steggall's wife.

McGrathNicol is expected to make an announcement about the sale of Commander Communications to Commander Telecom Group on 5 December.