Deal leaves Kidney Foundation

holding 8.4m 'WizOffice shares

cost to NKF was a small sum"
NEF opts for shares in hen of A somewhat different picture was given by
cash payment of $1.24m NKF's chief executive T T Dural. First cone
tacted by ET, he said the cost to Nig was "per-
Bid Lee Nanlh haps S30,00)". When asked a few days later
(SINGAPORE) The National Kidney Founda• why a $O0,000 service was paid for with shares
tion has opted for shares in WieOffice.com in worth 31.24 million, Mr Dural said he had
lieu or cash for providing tolemarku ling ser- made a mistake. The Sateare was the cost of
vicee, a decision which may spark a public de- service to another client, and the cost for Wi.
bate If only because the shares had an unlit. eOffice could ha somewhat blithe:,
spiring debut on the market yesterday. The "somewhat higher" figure, people in
NKF, a charitable organisation which the delcom Industry said, is likely to be
needs $40 million a year to provide dialysis for around $1 million.
2,000 patients, has thus ended up with 8.4 "Dotcoma have no money and have to pay
shares or 2.2 per cent of WizOffice, a com- for almost everything with shires. Still, they
pany which prov! ides online purchasing of sta- are not going to issue you share, at many
tionery. Witt:Mee chairmen Seah Chin Yew times the cost of service. Even if they want to
anld NICE' was given the option last December do It, their existing shareholders will stop
to take shares in lieu of cash payment 0(31.24 them because this will ciliate the sharehold-
million, and it settled for shares. ers' stakes," said the founder of a stave:Oleg
In May, when dolcom stocks were crash ing dotocen.
all over the world, NKF transferred the WizOf- Mr Dural would only sar "(Equity for ser-
flee sh arts to Iwo of its officials —Alwyn Lim, vice) seemed a good I dee teat year. everybody
chairman of Its finance committee, and pea was doing it. We had excess capacity In tele•
marketing and we just used It for Wizeffice. It
Soy San — to hold in trust.
was note lot of cost?
"The shares are in our name but the ulti- But what sort of telemarketing would run
mate owner Is NKF," Mr Lim told BT. "We to around Si million? Does it Involve using
have signed all the necessary papers." The NXF's own database to get businessfor WhOf-
reason for the transfer, said Mr Lim. who runs Ace? "No, we never do that, 'TheJob for witor-
his own accounting firm In Beach Road, Is ce was totally Independent nem our own
that the foundation does not want to be seen to head-raising activities," Mr Dural mild.
be involved in do teoms, which many now con-
sider risky. Mr Lim declined to give details of Continued on Next Pogo
what sort of telemarketing services NKF per-
formed for Wix011ice, except to say that the Wilistaffi on share priccdfais 30 Pg 4

3.01112ArT
NEF left with 8.4m WizOffice shares
■ Conlinued from Pg 1
When asked whether NKF could reveal how
much mom it has and how it manages its
farlds, Mr Lim gave a at retinal.
In May, at around the same time he became
the trustee of NriFs shares In WizOffice, Mr
Lim wrote to the press on how Important It
was for NKF to be transparent. The letter was
to explain. why the foundation was pursuing
legal action against people who attacked its
"impeccable reputation" thrmagh the Inter.
net. When asked whether his tefusal to reveal
m3re of NK was a step back in being trans.
parent, Mr Lim disagreed. "We are as trans.
parent as any Hated company. More„ in fact, as
we have internal and external auditors,"
He added that NKF's accounts "are on the
Registry of Soc ieties' welts' le".
WizOffice shares closed at 14 cants a share
on the stock market yesterday, down 30 per
cent from its IPO price of 20 cents.