Rage investors turn up heat on advisers

Investors in Rage, the collapsed computer games group, have increased the pressure on the company's advisers by highlighting a series of fund raisings with a US bond fund, GEM Global High Yield Fund.

Private investors claim the transactions, the latest of which was in March 2002, are further evidence that Rage was in need of cash before a controversial £5.5m share placing and open offer in May 2002. The offer document for the May share issue contains a loss forecast for the full year to June 2002 of £3.2m-£9.1m.

One investor said: "At the interim stage in December they made a £5.4m loss. So if they had any hope of meeting the more optimistic end of their range the company would have had to trade profitably in the second half. If that was likely to happen why did they need to raise cash from investors such as GEM in March?"

A shareholder action group has been formed to demand compensation from Rage's advisers, including Teather & Greenwood, the company's brokers, and BDO Stoy Hayward, its auditor.