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Before Antony Catalano was the subject of rolling national headlines for being charged with allegedly assaulting his wife, the fast-talking former Domain chief executive was locked in a complex legal battle with his former ally, the corporate raider Nick Bolton.
In late 2024, Catalano, who is currently in rehab, fell out with Bolton after striking a deal with the high-profile fund manager Geoff Wilson, which culminated in Bolton’s ouster as chief executive of Keybridge Capital, the ASX-listed investment vehicle Bolton controlled for years.
The move triggered what one Federal Court judge described as a “long-running turf war for control of Keybridge”, which has since played out in a web of complex legal claims. Among them: a fight over a stake in Australian Community Media, which Catalano and the Melbourne billionaire Alex Waislitz bought in 2019.
As far as Bolton is concerned, Keybridge owns 16.7 per cent of Catalano’s regional media empire, and Catalano engaged in a breach of trust by appropriating the shares for himself.
Last year, Bolton sought leave in the Federal Court to bring action to pry the stake away from Catalano. But that effort failed. And on Tuesday, his attempt to appeal that decision was dismissed by the Federal Court, where Bolton was represented by the high-profile billionaire Melbourne barrister, Allan Myers KC.
A Catalano representative referred our request for comment to Keybridge. “We are pleased to see the court confirmed the current board’s position, and costs awarded in our favour,” Keybridge director Sulieman Ravell told CBD.
In response to the decision, Bolton said Keybridge received “King’s Counsel’s firm advice” in 2024 that it was the beneficial owner of the stake, setting the stage for a likely rematch of the matter.
“It begs the question why a now WAM [owned by Wilson] and Catalano-controlled Keybridge would so vigorously oppose me recovering, on behalf of and for the benefit of all Keybridge shareholders, $23 million of assets from Catalano,” Bolton told CBD.
“Geoff Wilson needs Catalano’s support to stay in control of Keybridge, whereas I was prepared to give up control of the company and end my relationship with Cat in order to recover Keybridge’s investment in ACM.”
This week’s Federal Court decision is just one procedural piece of a sprawling legal battle between Bolton and Catalano, whom the corporate raider is also suing directly. The bad blood runs deep, and in both directions.
Early last month, as regular readers of this column will no doubt recall, Keybridge told investors that it was “pleased to advise” that the Milanese Court had granted freezing orders over Bolton’s Italian assets, up to the amount of $4.7 million.
In particular, the orders related to an entity called Crotto del Nino, which holds title to a waterfront villa on Lake Como worth about $20 million. That freezing order came on top of a NSW Supreme Court order freezing Bolton’s assets in Australia, after Keybridge loaned close to $5 million to an entity in Italy associated with Bolton.
Last time we wrote about the Bolton/Catalano/Wilson saga was before Catalano was charged with allegedly assaulting his partner. A lot has changed since then. But one thing we’d bet hasn’t waivered is Bolton’s appetite for a fight.
What a croc: One Nation’s reptile problem
With One Nation vowing to run a candidate in every seat in Victoria in the November election, maybe Pauline Hanson and her team should do a little research on the local landscape.
Or perhaps they should get a proofreader.
In what looked like a cut and paste from messaging meant for another state, the “Rebuilding Our Regions” policy page on the One Nation Victoria website set out the party’s support of the local agriculture, fishing, and forestry sectors and farming communities.
But it was a line in the party’s plan to grow “thriving regional communities” in Victoria that caught CBD’s eye.
It turns out that one of One Nation Victoria’s objectives is to support the “swift removal of dangerous animals such as crocodiles from human communities” – in Victoria.
Yes, you read that right, crocodiles … the reptile that thrives in northern Australian states like Queensland but, other than in zoos or reptile parks and as the occasional exotic pet, does not exist down south.
One Nation chief of staff James Ashby dealt with his party’s Victorian crocodile problem in record time after CBD brought it to his attention on Thursday.
“I’m not about to give you crocodile tears and pretend it’s not a mistake,” Ashby said.
“Since [CBD] brought the reptile issue to our attention, the party has made some snappy changes to the website and the crocodile has been removed for everyone’s safety.”
Meanwhile, if you are surfing around the One Nation website learning about the party’s plan to deal with crocodiles down south and have a few minutes up your sleeve, the expression of interest portal is still open to apply to be a candidate for the upcoming election.
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John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners
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