Nathan Tinkler. Photo: Glen Hunt
A club to share expensive sports cars has spun out amid claims of theft and bullying, writes Kate Lahey.
As a business, it is the stuff little boys’ dreams are made of: buy a set of the world’s flashiest, most expensive cars, then form a club and charge people to drive them.
At its height, the Supercar Club attracted celebrities, sponsored events and offered – among them Aston Martins and Lamborghinis – the chance to be in a syndicate for a $2 million Bugatti Veyron. But sharing toys is easier said than done.
The men behind the Supercar Club have fallen out, in a big way. Amid lawsuits and allegations of theft, deception, sexism and cyber-bullying, the Mosman club is expected to be placed in administration as early as today.
Tim Sommers.
According to its 49 per cent owner, the mining entrepeneur and thoroughbred mogul Nathan Tinkler, he has propped up the business to the tune of $4 million and says the other 49 per cent shareholder, Tim Sommers, has abandoned the club, taking two Audis, $483,000 in cash and four motorcycles with him.
Mr Sommers claims he was shut out of the business he founded by Mr Tinkler and other directors and is owed more than $1 million in fees, unpaid wages and severance pay.
He denies taking any cash, cars or bikes without authorisation or entitlement, and says he has returned the bikes.
Mr Sommers told BusinessDay this week that he was in the United States but declined to say precisely where or why. He said he planned to be back in Australia for a hearing in the NSW Supreme Court next month, initiated by Mr Tinkler.
It will most likely be too late for members, thought to number about 80, and whose status with the struggling club appears unclear.
Despite hopes among the Tinkler camp of allowing the business to trade for another four to six weeks to allow existing members to redeem some of their value, that prospect appeared unlikely yesterday. The best hope for members appears to be that the business will be bought.
In a document filed with the court, Mr Tinkler claims he was duped into buying his $1.45 million shareholding in Supercars in December 2008. He wants Mr Sommers to sell him his share for $1 and is seeking damages for a breach of contract.
Mr Tinkler says that, based on information from Mr Sommers, he was misled to believe the business was trading at a profit, his investment was needed to help it expand, and that accounts of the club were true.
Mr Sommers claims the Tinkler Group conducted its own due diligence of Supercars when it decided to invest and denies the claim it was not trading at a profit.
Mr Tinkler, 34, is the youngest person on the latest BRW rich list. With a personal fortune of $355 million, he is ranked 113th. The former electrician made his money selling his mining interests to Macarthur Coal for $207 million in 2007. He has invested much of his fortune into his horseracing venture, Patinack Farm, through which he is involved in an unrelated legal dispute with trainer Anthony Cummings.
Mr Sommers, according to an affidavit he has provided, sold his family home in Buckinghamshire, England, in about May 2006 and kept $300,000 aside to set up a car club. ”I had wanted to launch a Supercar Club-style business in Australia since 2004,” his affidavit says.
”I was aware of a similar idea that existed in the UK and the comparatively high price of luxury cars in Australia … had sparked my business instincts. I also had a passion for luxury cars and had owned over 30 luxury cars since 1990 including new Ferraris and Porsches.”
Also at issue in the case is a dispute Mr Sommers had with a British car club, which he says was settled in March 2008. He says he did not disclose this to investors in late 2008 because it was not a liability then, but Mr Tinkler argues it was relevant information that he should have been told.
Mr Sommers says he started the Australian business in July 2006 by agreeing to buy a $362,000 Ferrari 430 Spider in Sydney, through monthly lease payments, in an effort to attract members to his club.
He hired a staff member, Peter Dempsey, and launched the club in Sydney in December that year, his affidavit says. ”I personally funded the appearance of racing car driver Mark Webber at a cost of $10,000. In the evening I took some of the founding members and Mark Webber for dinner at the Flying Fish restaurant in Pyrmont.”
The business expanded to Melbourne and Mr Sommers says it attracted 75 new members by September 2007. At that point, ”I used the internet search term ‘capital raisings’ with a view to finding an expert who could assist”.
By March 2008, Mr Sommers says, the club had 100 members, including sports stars and entertainers. He says annual memberships ranged up to $50,000. The fee converts to points to redeem through the use of the cars.
Mr Sommers claims he was growing the club at a ratio of five members per car. ”All cars were purchased with my personal guarantee and usually with some direct funds from me,” his affidavit says.
He says Mr Tinkler contacted him through a representative in response to his advertisement in July 2008 for the Bugatti syndicate. By October the two men were meeting to discuss the prospect of Tinkler investing. ”At this time I formed the opinion that Tinkler was a blokey ‘man’s man’. He swore and cussed virtually every sentence but seemed fairly likeable,” Mr Sommers’s affidavit says.
He says he first suspected problems in the relationship when Mr Tinkler bought a Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe on the club’s behalf for $735,000, without board approval. ”At this point I was both delighted and very concerned,” he says.
His affidavit goes on to accuse Mr Tinkler of making sexist and racist remarks, which he says concerned him, and says the relationship between them became difficult and unstable.
He alleges Mr Tinkler did not want a business relationship with various people, including the ”bogan c—s” from Australian Muscle cars.
He claims that when he emailed Mr Tinkler a picture of two men at a Ferrari event the club held at Mosman, Mr Tinkler replied: ”Where are all the topless chicks? We are male f—-n’ chauvinists mate … how are we going to attract members?”
Mr Sommers’s wife, Sue Sommers, also worked for the business and claims she is owed money. Among her husband’s allegations is that on February 25, a fictitious woman using the name Wendy Gos emailed Ms Sommers and 13 parents of her childrens’ friends, saying: ”Sue sorry to hear that your car reposed [sic] do you need a help with school runs?”
In a subsequent email ”Wendy” allegedly wrote: ”It’s all the talk at the moment. About your weekender being reposed as well last week. We’ll help you just gotta ask girlfriend”.
Mr Sommers alleges Mr Tinkler reneged on a promise to inject $500,000 in Supercars, starving it of funds. He says that after he was shut out, he received several messages from various lenders demanding he make payments on the cars.
Mr Tinkler disputes that Mr Sommers was removed as a director, but says he was stood down as chief executive. Through a representative, he disputed Mr Sommers’s version of events. ”The facts speak for themselves,” he said. ”I have been supporting this company and this guy’s done a runner and left many creditors in the lurch.”
The matter is due to be heard in court on June 21.
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