To: SSP who wrote (10407 ) 9/24/1999 8:00:00 PM From: HungryMan Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 150070
**NEWS** from CHES!!! My name is Michael F. O'Shea and I am the President of Chester Holdings, Ltd. I know from calls and faxes that there are a large number of people (actually 2,500 +) who own shares of CHES and there are a lot of questions about the current status and future of the Company. Accordingly, I have decided to use this public forum to address some of these questions however, I must emphasize that the information provided and statements made are based on the best information available at this time and are subject to change at any time in the future. This information is being provided for informational purposes only and in no way intended to encourage any investment. The one question that everyone seems to have concerns the SEC filings. The Company's last filing was the December 31,1994 10Q. By May 30,1995 the Company had effectively ceased doing business however, the period between January 1,1995 and May 30,1995 was an extremely active time. During that time the Retail Management, Inc. subsidiary was placed into an Involuntary Chapter 7, the UK subsidiary, Retail Brand Development Limited was sold and it's bank debt paid down, the Corniche Distribution acquisition was abandoned and the Company purchased Fidelity Medical, Inc. All of these events were extremely complex and we have had difficulty in obtaining some records. We even had to locate an old and damaged back-up tape and have it reconstructed. All of this has consumed a great deal of time and money. Having said that I believe that we now have all of the information necessary to complete the required filings and I have been diligently working with our auditors and attorneys to do so. At this time I believe that we will unquestionably be able to file and I am still hopeful that we can do so by October 7,1999 but I can not assure you that we will meet this date. I have also been told that, even if we do file by October 7th that there is a 60 day no comment period during which time NASDAQ can "de-list" if they choose to - it is my understanding that this applies to any company. If CHES is moved to the "pink sheets" I still intend to file and apply for re-listing. While the issue of completing filings has taken precedent over everything else, I assure you that I have not lost sight of the fact that Chester has a lot of "irons in the fire" in terms of reviving itself as a holding company. We have completed the acquisition of Pharma_On line and I have recently had talks with a large healthcare company in the UK who are desirous of implementing the Pharma_On line system within their nursing home group which comprises more than sixty facilities. I hope to be able to announce the details of this agreement during the coming week pending the completion of legal details. This will not only provide a revenue stream to Chester but it will enable the Company to have an infrastructure to add additional clients. We recently announced an agreement to acquire Probity International of Reston Virginia. We have completed the first payment and anticipate completing the acquisition by the end of October. Probity is a tremendous product which is already in use at several governmental and corporate sites. On a recent trip to the UK I received several inquires about Probity and I believe that Probity will be a big contributor to Chester during the coming year. Not wanting to build a large staff within Chester I have also been exploring the possibility of taking compatible businesses, such as Pharma and Probity, and spinning them off into a separate public vehicle where they can operate with their existing staff. These subsidiaries would be owned, in the majority, by Chester. Chester would then be able to leverage this ownership by acquiring additional subsidiaries and, at the same time, distribute a portion of its' stock in these subsidiaries to the Chester shareholders. Again, the filings have been taking priority over everything but I believe that this proposed format will serve Chester well and I have already identified a vehicle with which to start. We continue to be in contact with Growth Fund International of Australia and them still stand ready to fund acquisitions for Chester however, because their ultimate compensation will include equity in the Company I believe that it is in the best interest of the Company and the Shareholders to wait until the filing issues are resolved and the price of the stock stabilizes before completing the funding. I realize that it has sometimes been difficult for shareholders to get access to Company information. This is due to the fact that we do not have staff at this time and I am involved in other interests (have to pay the bills). Accordingly, I will soon make arrangements to post monthly updates on a web site which will hopefully alleviate this problem. In summary I want to assure you that I am working hard to get the Company in compliance and, at the same time, completing the acquisition of revenue producing businesses for Chester. While we have had some set backs, and I am sure we will encounter others along the way, I believe that the prognosis for Chester is good and hope that the persistence of our early supporters will be rewarded. -- Hungry