Ghost Bites (Glencore | Orion Minerals | South32 | Telemasters)

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Glencore’s acquisition of Elk Valley Resources is unconditional (JSE: GLN)

This means that all relevant approvals have now been received

Glencore has received the final regulatory approval for the acquisition of Elk Valley Resources, with the Government of Canada having signed off on the acquisition of a 77% interest in Elk.

The deal is therefore expected to close on 11 July.

Glencore is familiar with Canada and has already been operating in that country, so that would’ve helped with getting the approval across the line. They had to make a number of commitments to the Canadian government as part of the approval, including around management and employment levels. They’ve also had to commit to a minimum level of capital expenditure.

If you would like to see the full list of commitments, you’ll find it here.

Orion Minerals has opened its share purchase plan (JSE: ORN)

Eligible shareholders can apply to invest in more shares in the company

Orion Minerals announced a few days ago that around R92 million in new equity funding has been secured from sophisticated and professional investors. They are issuing shares at R0.18 per share to these investors.

In addition to this, Orion Minerals is giving the broader shareholder base an opportunity to participate in an equity capital raise of up to R60 million. The company refers to this as a share purchase plan. The eligibility is based on the registered address of the shareholder – and yes, South African shareholders qualify for this. The plan opened on Friday and will close on 23 July, so you have a couple of weeks to pull the trigger here if you so desire. The placement price is R0.18, which is the same price as the private placement mentioned above.

The funds from the placement and the share purchase plan will primarily be used for the development of the Prieska Copper Zinc Mine, as well as infrastructure development at the Okiep copper project. Naturally, they will also use some of the funds for advancements on other prospecting and mining rights and general working capital purposes.

The total amount raised under the share purchase plan is subject to change. The company has the flexibility to increase the raise if there is sufficient demand, or scale it back if the interest doesn’t come through as expected levels.

There’s a booklet available that explains the share purchase plan in full, along with frequently asked questions and other interesting information. It also includes details on how to apply. You can find it on the home page of the Orion website here.

South32 is a step closer to selling Illawarra (JSE: S32)

There are still some regulatory hurdles to clear

South32 has announced that the sale of Illawarra Metallurgical Coal to Golden Energy and Resources and M Resources has obtained approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board.

This is an important step but not the final one, as there are foreign merger clearances that still need to be obtained.

South32 expects the transaction to be completed in Q1 FY25, although it’s always good for investors to remember that regulatory approvals can take an unexpectedly long time.

Telemasters flags some potential corporate activity (JSE: TLM)

We could see a mandatory offer for the company

Aside from two embarrassing corrections to the SENS announcement around its dividend, Telemasters has released an announcement related to two potential corporate actions at the company.

The first is that a B-BBEE investor has approached the two largest shareholders of Telemasters to acquire their shares, with no guarantee at this stage that a deal will be agreed. The relevance to other shareholders is that if an acquisition goes ahead, the stake would be of sufficient size that a mandatory offer would be triggered.

Separately, the company is looking at a potential acquisition. It’s very important to understand that the abovementioned deal is being negotiated by shareholders, whereas the acquisition by Telemasters is being negotiated by the company’s management team and board. And once again, there’s no guarantee at this stage of a deal taking place.

Little Bites:

• Director dealings:
  • Directors of Lewis Group (JSE: LEW) sold R6.7 million worth of shares from vested awards. The announcement doesn’t explicitly say that the sales were to cover taxes.
  • A director of Copper 360 (JSE: CPR) has acquired shares worth R2.2k.

• Brait (JSE: BAT) announced that the holders of the exchangeable bonds have approved the resolutions related to the extension of the term of these instruments.

• Trematon (JSE: TMT) has released a cautionary announcement regarding a potential disposal that could impact the share price. No further details have been released at this stage.

• Never one to miss an opportunity to release a SENS announcement, Kibo Energy (JSE: KBO) noted that the first tranche placing proceeds of £150k have been received and shares have been issued to Peter Williams. The audit of the 2023 accounts will now proceed. The board changes announced in June have been partially completed.

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