The Latest Information On Renaissance

Thursday, January 30, 2003 07:03 PM

2003-01-30 10:10 PT - Street Wire

by Brent Mudry

In the latest Howe Street promotion to be shut down by Canada's toughest stock regulator, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission abruptly halted trading of Sedona Software Solutions Inc. at noon Pacific Time on Wednesday. The setback occurs a week after the stock soared to $9.55 amid news of a planned reverse takeover by Ian Park and Anthony Wile's Renaissance Mining Corp., which itself recently gave control to a company in the murky offshore enclave of Belize. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.)

Renaissance Mining chairman Anthony W. Wile stresses that his uncle Wayne Wile, a past securities violator well known to Canadian regulators, has absolutely nothing to do with Sedona, Renaissance or the surging penny stock promotion. "He is not a business associate. He has no role whatsoever. He is not a shareholder. He is not involved in any way, shape or form," Andrew Wile told Stockwatch, declining any further comment.

Wayne Wile, banned for three years in B.C. and jailed six months in Ontario over a decade ago, caught the attention of Canadian regulators when he worked at Mr. Park's Borneo Gold in 1996 amid a massive stock run as Borneo made its debut on the Asian board of the TSX Venture Exchange's predecessor, the Vancouver Stock Exchange.

Renaissance describes its head Anthony Wile as a private consultant to the mining industry, after a stint as a broker with such national houses as Scotia McLeod and Nesbitt Burns. "Mr. Wile has been a feature speaker at various Mining Conferences throughout Canada and the United States," states the company.

In one of the many coincidences on Howe Street, Renaissance corporate secretary, treasurer and board member William Daly previously served as president of Chapleau Resources Ltd., including heading the company in 1992 and 1993, when Wayne Wile was a private placement investor in Chapleau. (Mr. Daly also served president and directorship roles with Borneo Gold.)

The SEC halt may be unwelcome with Howe Street's freshly buffed gold buffs, as Renaissance invited investors to visit it at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference last Sunday and Monday. (Renaissance is not noted as an exhibitor on the investment conference's Web site.)

Sedona shares rose $4.35 to $9.35 on heavy volume of 314,100 shares on Jan. 21, the day the Renaissance RTO was officially announced. The stock traded in the $9 range through Monday, but fell $1.05 on Tuesday and $1.42 on Wednesday on modest volume, before being halted at $6.60. The SEC's 10-day trading halt is set to expire at midnight on Feb. 11.

"The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of Sedona Software Solutions, Inc. because of questions concerning the accuracy and completeness of information about Sedona on Internet Web sites, in press releases, and in other sources publicly available to investors concerning, among other things, Sedona's planned merger with Renaissance Mining Corp., a privately-held company; the assets and business operations of Renaissance; and trading in Sedona common stock in connection with the announced merger," states the SEC in its halt notice.

Brokers and anyone else wishing to share information are invited to call Ivonia Slade, a senior SEC attorney at its Washington, D.C., office.

Mr. Park is not shy about boosting Renaissance. "Our name was chosen to signify the 'Renaissance' of several industry mining professionals," states Mr. Park on the company's Web site. "Renaissance has successfully made the leap from exploration to production in the space of a few short months, in what normally is a cycle of several years. We will continue to be on the lookout for new acquisitions that can add significantly to the value of the company."

Among Renaissance's leaps, on Jan. 8, the company announced a letter of intent with Central American Mine Holdings Ltd., a private company in Belize, to acquire a "marquee package" of two producing gold mines, the La Libertad and Bonanza mines in Nicaragua, once part of Greenstone Resources' portfolio, and an interest in the Cerro Quema gold project in Panama. (Mr. Park was formerly president of Greenstone.)

The deal calls for Renaissance to pay Central American $2.95-million and eight million of its shares. No disclosure is given as to who the beneficial shareholders of Central American might be, and whether they live in Belize, anywhere else offshore or in North America.

With this tentative deal in hand, on Jan. 21 Renaissance announced an RTO of Sedona Software, a dormant Vancouver shell. In a press release, Anthony Wile states that Sedona will redeem or otherwise retire 3.2 million of its shares currently held by officers and directors, the lion's share of its 5.34 million outstanding shares. He also notes that private Renaissance currently has 4.3 million shares outstanding, plus the eight million shares to be sent to Belize.

As part of the merger, Mr. Wile states that LOM Capital Ltd., based in Bermuda, presumably the well-known Lines Overseas Management Capital Ltd., run by Brian Lines, Scott Lines and the Lines family, has signed on to serve as investment banker for an $6-million financing, to sell up to two million shares at $3 a share. Based on this news, the stock soared to more than $9, more than triple the price of this proposed offshore financing.

Mr. Wile is even more excited than Mr. Park. "Our goal, through Renaissance, is to continue building the Renaissance production portfolio over the next 24 months and to ultimately become one of the premier intermediate gold producers in the world," states Mr. Wile, the chairman of both Sedona and Renaissance, in a press release. In the two-stage RTO, Mr. Park also serves as president and chief executive officer of both Renaissance and Sedona.

As Mr. Wile vigorously asserts, of course, his uncle Wayne Wile is absolutely nowhere on the scene and has absolutely no role in any way, shape or form.

This will no doubt comfort Howe Street observers who remember the unfortunate and embarrassing saga of poor old Borneo Gold in September, 1996. Borneo shares shot up to more than $11 (Canadian) on the VSE amid preliminary predrilling gold results from Indonesia before VSE officials stepped in to halt the stock.

VSE surveillance head Angela Huxham was especially concerned after reading Vancouver Sun reporter David Baines say he was pretty sure he spoke to Wayne Wile on the phone at Borneo Gold's office in downtown Vancouver. Mr. Baines also noted that Borneo's biggest shareholder, with 14.2 million shares, a 58-per-cent stake, was a postbox in Panama. Borneo Gold claimed that Mr. Wile had absolutely no association with the company.

Mr. Wile, a former Ontario broker, was charged in 1987 with bribing a broker to flog shares of an Ontario software promotion, convicted and sentenced to six months in jail.

The unfortunate Mr. Wile popped up in the crosshairs of the British Columbia Securities Commission soon after, in Jerome Rak's Capital Reserve affair. This time he was banned for three years.

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