Daily Record Financial News &
Monday, January 11, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 041 • Two Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
APR likely staying in Jacksonville Relocating has ‘not even been part of the discussion’
A consortium of private equity investors took control of APR Energy plc last week and while they haven’t announced any post-buyout plans, the company will likely remain headquartered in Jacksonville. A majority of shareholders voted in favor of the buyout offer from a group consisting of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., ACON Equity Management LLC and Albright Capital Management LLC. The group will own at least 79 percent of APR’s stock, the company said. APR builds interim power
plants and does most of its business overseas. Its stock has been trading on the London Stock Exchange. However, the company’s main office is in Jacksonville, where it employs a little less than 200 people, APR spokesman Alan Chapple said. Chapple said last week the headquarters is expected to remain in Jacksonville after the buyout. “That’s not even been part of the discussion. I can’t imagine that’s going to change,” he said. The one thing that will change
Breaking ground on laws for Internet
is APR will no longer be publicly traded. The company said it has taken steps to delist its stock from the London exchange. The owners of the 21 percent of shares who had not agreed to sell to the buyout group, as of last week’s shareholder vote, still have the opportunity to sell their shares for a limited time.
The consortium agreed to pay 175 pence in cash (about $2.60) for the APR shares they did not already own. While that was a significant gain from the trading price of 93 pence before the buyout talks began, it is well below APR’s price of more than 1,000 pence two years ago. While the buyout was approved, not all shareholders were happy with the deal. APR said 45.6 percent of “independent shareholders” voted against the deal. The consortium has also agreed to provide $200 million in new
capital to the company. “We are pleased to be working alongside a group that truly understands our business and our market, and that shares our longer-term vision,” APR Executive Chairman John Campion said in a news release. “Their significant investment reflects a strong belief in our business, our market and our management team, and we expect them to be great partners as we grow the company and continue to serve our expanding base of global customers,” he said. Basch continued on Page A-7
Attorney awarded $350,000 for false statements online
Be careful what you say. That’s been good advice since people began communicating with language. The most modern evolution — be careful what you post on the Internet — was confirmed last week by the 4th District Court of Appeal. The court on Wednesday upheld a decision by the Circuit Court in Broward County that awarded attorney Ann-Marie Giustibelli $350,000. After Giustibelli represented Copia Blake in a divorce case against Peter Birzon, the couple posted critical reviews of the attorney on the Internet. They claimed GiustiPhillips belli misrepresented her fees, charging four times the amount agreed to, and that she altered documents to support the increase in fees. The couple also wrote in their review the attorney had no integrity, would “say one thing and do another” and that Guistibelli “absolutely perpetuates the horrible image of attorneys who are only out for the money and themselves.” Guistibelli sued Blake and Birzon for libel and breach of contract and was awarded $350,000 in punitive damages in Broward County Circuit Court. During the trial, both Blake and Birzon admitted posting the reviews and also Internet
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Photo by Marilyn Young
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Public Defender Matt Shirk said he had a “transformational encounter with Jesus Christ” that changed his life after inappropriate relationships with female employees were made public.
Long road to decision to run Shirk wants to put scandals behind him
By Marilyn Young Editor It took Public Defender Matt Shirk the better part of a year to decide if he was going to seek re-election. And a lot of thought and prayer. It wasn’t a matter of Shirk wavering between yes or no. It was a matter of what was best for his family considering, he said, “the public nature of what we went through for a couple of years.” Shirk’s public problems began Aug. 25, 2013, when The Florida Times-Union published a story on his indiscretions with
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female employees. Day after day, the media was at his front door. His marriage was unraveling. And, there were other personal issues going on that he won’t talk about. One week after the first story published, he found himself telling God, ”I will follow you if you save me from all this.” The result, Shirk said, was “a radical transformational encounter with Jesus Christ that changed my life.” His professional troubles continued for more than a year, culminating with a grand jury report that called for his resignation. Shirk doesn’t want those issues to define his re-election campaign, where he will face
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retired County Court Judge Charles Cofer, the only opponent currently in the race. Shirk knows he can’t hide from the scandals of the past two years. “To the extent that I need to apologize to people, I will,” he said. But he intends to talk about positives, like the Vision for Excellence program his office started in 2010. The mentoring program for 9- to 15-yearold boys has grown each year, he said, from about 20 the first year to 70 last year. The priority, Shirk said, is to keep those young men from becoming clients of his office. Shirk continued on Page A-10
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