Thompson Creek Metals (Blue Pearl Mng)
Thread abonnieren
|
--button_text--
interessant
|
|
witzig
|
|
gut analysiert
|
|
informativ
|
2
Im August 2006 wurde ich durch die Kollegen von www.Rohstoffraketen.de auf eine sehr interessante Aktie aufmerksam. Es handelte sich um Blue Pearl Mining (WKN A0F577). Der Kurs stand damals bei 1,50 Euro und ich war überzeugt von diesem Potential. Ich habe Blue Pearl Mining als die neue Kursrakete auf meiner Email-Hotline vorgestellt. Bei 3 Euro habe ich diese Kursrakete dann auch hier in meinem kostenlosen Newsletter Ihnen empfohlen!
Blue Pearl steht erst ganz am Anfang einer herausragenden Unternehmensentwicklung. Der Rohstoff Molybdän wird in Zukunft noch knapper werden, was Blue Pearl zugute kommen wird.
Molybdän (Mo) kommt meist als Molybdänit (MoS2) vor und gehört im eriodensystem der Elemente zur Chromgruppe. Molybdän ist ein hartes Metall und findet seine Hauptverwendung in der Härtung von Stahl. Blue Pearl ist fundamental bestens aufgestellt. Man ist auf das weltweit womöglich einzige Weltklasse Molybdän-Projekt mit hochgradigen Gehalten konzentriert. Es handelt sich um das Davidson-Projekt in der Nähe von Smithers in British Columbia (Kanada).
Wenn man sich das Unternehmen Blue Pearl Mining anschaut, dann muss man auch die erfolgreiche Übernahme von Thompson Creek erwähnen. Man hat den fünftgrößten Molybdän-Produzenten der Welt für 575 Mio. US-Dollar gekauft. Damit hat man nicht nur einen Jahresgewinn von über 350 Mio. US-Dollar gekauft, sondern auch Reserven in den Minen, die noch mindestens für weitere zehn Jahre ausreichen werden und eine der größten Erz-Verarbeitungsanlagen in Nordamerika. Zusätzlich hat man 150 Mio. US-Dollar Cash übernommen.
Man will nach 21 Mio. Pfund Moly in 2007 die Produktion 2008 auf 27 Mio. und 2009 auf 29 Mio. hochfahren.
Bleibt der Molypreis über 20 US-Dollar je Pfund, dürfte Blue Pearl in 2007 ca. 280 Mio. US-Dollar verdienen. Durch die sehr niedrige Bewertung wäre das Unternehmen für einen Großen der Branche immer noch ein attraktives Übernahmeziel.
Die Email-Hotline-Leser haben mit dieser Aktie inzwischen bis zu 300% Gewinn erzielt und Sie als kostenloser Newsletter-Leser konnten mit Blue Pearl Mining auch fast 100% erreichen. Sie selbst sehen aber wieder einmal, wo es die neuen Kursraketen zuerst gibt. Sie selbst entscheiden, ob Sie bei der nächsten Kursrakete 100% verdienen oder sogar 300%, wen, Sie als Email-Hotline-Leser zuerst von der neuen Kursrakete erfahren!
Blue Pearl Mining (WKN A0F577)
LG, Harley
Optionen
Angehängte Grafik:
chart-BluePearl.jpg
chart-BluePearl.jpg
1
und mal ehrlich, die kommen nun mal eher an infos ran wie wir. zum teil kennen die die leute persönlich und irgentwie gehen die auch immer eine symbiose ein.
denn keiner kann mehr ohne den anderen überleben.
Optionen
0
3
Und MF sowie RSR und wie sie alle heißen haben schon mehr Connections und Möglichkeiten,
an Infos ranzukommen, denke ich.
Wenn so die MF Lemminge aussehen, ich glaub, dann muß ich mir auch mal einen anschaffen. ;-)
LG, Harley
Optionen
6
Dieser Satz stammt nicht von mir, sondern von jemandem, den wir alle kennen.
Nun ja, ich bin in vielen Dingen mit ihm nicht einer Meinung, in dieser Frage allerdings schon.
Die Story bei Blue ist vollkommen intakt. Ich muß an dieser Stelle auch erwähnen, dass natürlich die Charttechnik von RS oder anderen bei diesem Wert eventuell ein Ergebnis bringen kann oder bringt, welches aufgrund der fundamentalen Rahmendaten nicht befriedigend sein kann. Aber Fakt ist, aus chartechnischer Sicht ist Blue mehr als angeschlagen.
Ich habe mittlerweile regelmäßigen e-mail-Kontakt zu der IR-Abteilung von Blue aufgebaut, vorher zu Olav, jetzt zu Wayne.
Folgende e-mail habe ich gestern abend knapp 1 Stunde nach meiner Anfrage zurückerhalten.
Hi XXX,
Thank you for your interest in Blue Pearl.
You ask many questions I cannot answer. I will answer those that I can.
As for the share price, there has been no news from the company other than the Jan. 16 news release. I cannot comment further on the price since I don?t know the motivation of those selling. The moly price has remained steady. UBS issued an analyst report Dec. 21 but no other firm has issued a report since then.
It may be that the fall in energy prices is having an impact, or maybe talk of economic slowdown. But nobody can be sure. Some have expressed concern to me about insider selling, but that shouldn?t really be a concern since insiders sold only a fraction of what they could have and they continue to own 4% of the company (6% on a fully diluted basis).
Management?s focus hasn?t changed. The priorities are to pay down the debt, expand the reserves at the mines, and bring Davidson into production.
On the moly price, we have said that the fundamentals look good to us for the next while, but we have not made a specific price forecast for 2007. The fact that the moly price is staying up near $25 a pound is encouraging for us. (A Chilean official recently predicted that it would decline but it hasn?t yet.)
Q4 results will be issued around the third week of March. Sojitz is our partner at Endako but there is nothing more to announce right now. We don?t have a schedule for news releases. We will issue them when there is something to say.
Please email again if you have further questions.
Regards,
Wayne Cheveldayoff
Director of Investor Relations
Blue Pearl Mining
Wie jeder sehen oder lesen kann, kann man unter anderem zu der Frage der Beteiligung von Sojitz right now keine weiteren Auskünfte erteilen.
Viele meiner Fragen wurden aber so beantwortet, dass man verstehen kann, was er damit zum Ausdruck bringen wollte.
Tatsache ist, dass die Fundamentaldaten herausragend sind und spätestens durch die geprüften Q4-Results Ende März bestätigt werden sollten. Bis dahin haben wir noch viele Börsentage und es ist nicht auszuschliessen, dass der Kurs weiter unter Druck gerät.
Ich empfehle daher allen Investierten, sich die Frage der Fragen zu stellen:
Würde ich ein solches Unternehmen mit diesen Rahmendaten zu dem heutigen Kurs immer noch kaufen ?
Ich denke, die Antwort wird bei jedem normalen User (der kein Trader ist) eindeutig mit "JA" zu beantworten sein.
Mittel- und langfristig könnten die Rahmenbedingungen nicht besser sein. Wir haben einen für diese Jahreszeit sehr hohen und vor allem sehr stabilen Moypreis, der im Laufe des Jahres deutlich anziehen sollte.
Was haben wir sonst noch in der Pipeline bzw. was sind die Rahmendaten?
- Ressourcenausweitung TC und Endako, längere Laufzeit der Minen
- Super PIT; drastische Steigerung der Produktion
- FS Davidson und Produktionsstart in 2008
- 1 Mio $ Gewinn am Tag (!!!)
- KGV von knapp 2
- Ausstehende Marktstudien der Brokerhäuser
- Steigender Molypreises bzw. Verbleib über 20 $/Pound
- Börsengang Molyproduzent in China
- 15 % Steuer auf Molyexport in China und entsprechende Folgen
- Verkauf freier Roasterkapazitäten
- ggf. 25 %-ige Betetiligung von Sojitz
Diese Aufzählung ist nicht abschliessend und soll nur einen groben Überblick über die fundamentalen Rahmendaten bieten. Chartex und viele andere User haben dies in den letzten Tagen mehrfach gepostet, daher nehme ich darauf Bezug.
Es macht wenig Sinn, sich über Kursrückgänge von 5 oder 10 % zu beklagen, diese gehören zum Börsengeschäft. Klar, ich hätte auchgerne bei 6,67 ? verkauft, habe es aber nicht. Langfristig ist dies auch vollkommen egal, denn der Markt und auch die, die den Kurs gestern kurz vor Schluß mit unlimitierten Sellorders unter die 8 $ gedrückt haben, werden die massive Unterbewertung der Aktie nicht dauerhaft ignorieren können.
Die These, dass wir seit letzter Woche den Beginn einer Übernahme sehen, mag ich nicht zu teilen. Auch die Annahme, dass durch das gezielte Drücken in Kanada kurz vor Schluß eingesammelt werden soll, erscheint mir zweifelhaft. Wer sich den Umsatz in D in der Zeit von 09:00 - 15:30 Uhr anschaut, wird feststellen, dass in dieser Zeit in den letzten Wochen teilweise gerade mal 100000 Aktien gehandelt wurden.
Nun denn, wir werden es alle erfahren.
Ich für meinen Teil werde aus den oben dargestellten Gründen auf alle Fälle investiert bleiben, auch wenn es nochmals 10, 20 oder 30 Cent nach unten gehen sollte.
Ich habe natürlich für jeden Verständnis, der nun langsam in die Verlustzone rutschen könnte. Stellt euch aber dennoch die Frage aller Fragen und überlegt, ob es Sinn macht, ein Investment aus der Hand zu geben, was mittelfristig zwangsläufig zum Steigen verdammt sein wird.
In diesem Sinne wünsche ich euch allen ein baldiges Ende der Leidenszeit.
BPM-Fakten-Thread (Bitte Nur zum Lesen!)
http://www.ariva.de/board/281353
- das Sperren dieses Users löst schwere Depressionen bei der Blue Pearl Mannschaft aus -
Optionen
Angehängte Grafik:
Flagge.gif
Flagge.gif
2
0
1
1
3
UBS,GMP help small molybdenum producer become a giant
Monday, January 29, 2007
As Canada lamented the sale of some of its biggest mining companies to
international rivals last year, an unlikely deal vaulted homegrown Blue
Pearl Mining Co. on to the world stage.
Formerly a shell with just three employees, Blue Pearl transformed itself
into a giant pure-play molybdenum miner through the purchase of a company
worth six times its value. Molybdenum, or moly as it is called in the
industry, is a metal used to make such products as high-strength,
corrosion-resistant steel used in skyscrapers and pipelines.
Investors and industry watchers have lauded Blue Pearl's purchase of
Thompson Creek Metals Co. for creating a world-class mining company, and
sent the stock soaring to the $8-to-$10-range recently, five times where it
was trading a year ago.
?To have two producing mines generating significant cash flow and being
vended into a small company was very attractive,? said Mark Wellings,
managing director of investment banking at GMP Securities L.P., which co-led
the financing for the acquisition with UBS Securities Canada Inc.
?You had two recognized operations that were large open pits, with all the
equipment, mills and associated processing facilities. These are real
world-class moly mines.? The purchase of Thompson Creek by its smaller peer
required a significant fundraising effort, with investment banks GMP and UBS
helping Blue Pearl secure US$575-million in equity and debt, a huge amount
for a company with a market capitalization of around $100-million.
?When you start talking price, it was clear that a company like Blue Pearl,
a $100-million market cap, would need an innovative financial solution to
afford the transaction,? said Jim Estey, president and chief executive of
UBS Securities Canada. ?Blue Pearl looked to UBS, and said, 'What could you
lend against these assets?' It was on the back of us being able to lend a
certain amount that this deal could go through.? The story begins when Ian
McDonald, who had previously founded mining firms Wheaton River Minerals
Ltd. and Glencairn Gold Corp., bought the Davidson Project, a molybdenum
exploration property near Smithers, B.C.
?When we negotiated it in April, 2004, moly was at about US$14 per pound [it
is now trading in the US$25 per pound range]. Timing in life is the most
important thing, and we were certainly very fortunate,? Mr. McDonald said.
Downstream from Mr. McDonald¹s property was Endako, a producing molybdenum
mine majority-owned by 72-year-old Steven Mooney. The founder of Thompson
Creek, Mr. Mooney also owned another molybdenum mine in Idaho and an ore
processing facility.
When the Davidson mine went into production, Mr. McDonald hoped to be able
to haul his ore for treatment at Mr. Mooney¹s smelter. While the companies
were hammering out a deal Blue Pearl came out with good exploration results,
its stock went up, and Mr. McDonald¹s thoughts instead turned to an
acquisition.
?I made them an offer to buy Endako. Mooney came back and said 'If you can
raise that much money, because you don't have any of it right now, why don¹t
you raise enough to buy the whole thing?'? For Mr. McDonald, who calls
himself ?a guy who loves the deal,? it was an exciting but daunting
suggestion. He enlisted the help of GMP, who he had worked with in the past
at Wheaton River.
?All of a sudden Ian¹s in this situation where he¹s saying 'Holy cow, we can
buy the whole thing, but its gonna¹ cost us a half a billion bucks. Can we
do it?'" Mr. Wellings said. With its institutional and retail client base,
large trading desk and experience in the mining sector, GMP was confident it
could sell the equity portion of the deal.
At the same time, Mr. Mooney had enlisted the help of the Canadian arm of
Swiss investment bank UBS Securities to assist with the sale process. With
its global mining expertise and access to the well-developed U.S debt
market, UBS had the confidence to commit to the debt financing portion of
the deal.
?It was a transaction that involved 30 plus people at UBS,? said Ted Larkin,
managing director and head of equity capital markets at UBS. ?You had the
commodity group that understood molybdenum. You had the credit team that
visited all these assets and did the due diligence to make sure we could
lend against them.? The combination of an international bank on the debt
side and a domestic bank on the equity side made a lot of sense, and was
similar to the team-up of GMP and Credit Suisse First Boston when HudBay
Minerals Inc. bought Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. in 2004, said Paul
Stein, a securities lawyer at Cassels Brock who worked on both transactions.
?The strength and the value-add of UBS was that the vendor had confidence in
them. They were able to stand up on the debt side to get the deal done,? he
said. ?On the equity side the power of that syndicate came from GMP, so it
was a very interesting combination.? Mr. McDonald and the investment bankers
visited seven cities in 12 days, holding 75 meetings during that time to
sell the deal to investors. ?When you¹re raising $230-million for a
$100-million market-cap company you don¹t leave any stones unturned,? Mr.
Estey said.
Blue Pearl ended up funding the purchase with a $230-million public equity
offering, a US$405-million term debt facility and a US$35-million equity
sale to one of the vendors of Thompson Creek. In addition to the
US$575-million purchase price, Mr. Mooney will receive an additional payment
of US$125-million in early 2008 if the price of molybdenum doesn't fall
dramatically.
The equity portion of the offering rose due to strong demand from investors,
even though Blue Pearl was able to price it much higher than originally
expected because the stock soared after the acquisition was announced.
?It was quite extraordinary to see a stock rally in the face of a sizeable
equity issue,? said Mr. Wellings. ?Everyone was interested, we have had
clients calling in from everywhere even though we haven¹t provided
research.? Mr. McDonald attributes meeting Mr. Mooney¹s criteria, which
included a relatively short time line, an all-cash bid and few staff cuts,
for helping him seal the deal. This was despite the presence of rival
bidders with deeper pockets, rumoured to have included other miners, private
equity firms, and billionaire Warren Buffett.
Blue Pearl was recently added to the S&P/TSX composite index. Mr. McDonald
is now executive chairman, while former Thompson Creek executive Kevin
Loughery has taken on the roles of president and chief executive.
Mr. McDonald acknowledges that Blue Pearl itself is probably a takeover
target, but says the company is focused on its operations, with plans
including the possible expansion of the Endako mine and completing the final
feasibility study for the Davidson property.
Financial Post
lmcleod@nationalpost.com
© Financial Post 2007
Optionen
1
kurs can meine ich.
Optionen
| Antwort einfügen |
| Boardmail an "Warf" |
|
Wertpapier:
Thompson Creek Metals
|
2
4
heute kann man drüber lachen - und genauso wird es in einem jahr sein, wenn es um den momentanen durchhänger geht, der (wie ich heute schon mal schrieb) angeblich bis ca 4,80 gehen kann.
Optionen
Angehängte Grafik:
bpm.png (verkleinert auf 85%)
bpm.png (verkleinert auf 85%)
1
1
1
mfg
me
This article appeared on January 30, 2007, in a special Dealmakers section of the Financial Post, which is the business section of the National Post published in Toronto, Canada.
Best Regards, Wayne Cheveldayoff
Director of Investor Relations
Blue Pearl Mining Ltd.
wcheveldayoff@bluepearl.ca
www.bluepearl.ca
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/...cde439a1f&k=31923
A Blue Pearl of a deal UBS,GMP help small molybdenum producer become a giant Lori McLeod Financial Post
As Canada lamented the sale of some of its biggest mining companies to international rivals last year, an unlikely deal vaulted homegrown Blue Pearl Mining Co. on to the world stage.
Formerly a shell with just three employees, Blue Pearl transformed itself into a giant pure-play molybdenum miner through the purchase of a company worth six times its value. Molybdenum, or moly as it is called in the industry, is a metal used to make such products as high-strength, corrosion-resistant steel used in skyscrapers and pipelines.
Investors and industry watchers have lauded Blue Pearl\'s purchase of Thompson Creek Metals Co. for creating a world-class mining company, and sent the stock soaring to the $8-to-$10-range recently, five times where it was trading a year ago.
"To have two producing mines generating significant cash flow and being vended into a small company was very attractive," said Mark Wellings, managing director of investment banking at GMP Securities L.P., which co-led the financing for the acquisition with UBS Securities Canada Inc.
"You had two recognized operations that were large open pits, with all the equipment, mills and associated processing facilities. These are real world-class moly mines." The purchase of Thompson Creek by its smaller peer required a significant fundraising effort, with investment banks GMP and UBS helping Blue Pearl secure US$575-million in equity and debt, a huge amount for a company with a market capitalization of around $100-million.
"When you start talking price, it was clear that a company like Blue Pearl, a $100-million market cap, would need an innovative financial solution to afford the transaction," said Jim Estey, president and chief executive of UBS Securities Canada. "Blue Pearl looked to UBS, and said, \'What could you lend against these assets?\' It was on the back of us being able to lend a certain amount that this deal could go through." The story begins when Ian McDonald, who had previously founded mining firms Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. and Glencairn Gold Corp., bought the Davidson Project, a molybdenum exploration property near Smithers, B.C.
"When we negotiated it in April, 2004, moly was at about US$14 per pound (it is now trading in the US$25 per pound range). Timing in life is the most important thing, and we were certainly very fortunate," Mr. McDonald said.
Downstream from Mr. McDonald\'s property was Endako, a producing molybdenum mine majority-owned by 72-year-old Steven Mooney. The founder of Thompson Creek, Mr. Mooney also owned another molybdenum mine in Idaho and an ore processing facility.
When the Davidson mine went into production, Mr. McDonald hoped to be able to haul his ore for treatment at Mr. Mooney\'s smelter. While the companies were hammering out a deal Blue Pearl came out with good exploration results, its stock went up, and Mr. McDonald\'s thoughts instead turned to an acquisition.
"I made them an offer to buy Endako. Mooney came back and said \'If you can raise that much money, because you don\'t have any of it right now, why don\'t you raise enough to buy the whole thing?\'" For Mr. McDonald, who calls himself "a guy who loves the deal," it was an exciting but daunting suggestion. He enlisted the help of GMP, who he had worked with in the past at Wheaton River.
"All of a sudden Ian\'s in this situation where he\'s saying \'Holy cow, we can buy the whole thing, but its gonna\' cost us a half a billion bucks. Can we do it?\'" Mr. Wellings said. With its institutional and retail client base, large trading desk and experience in the mining sector, GMP was confident it could sell the equity portion of the deal.
At the same time, Mr. Mooney had enlisted the help of the Canadian arm of Swiss investment bank UBS Securities to assist with the sale process. With its global mining expertise and access to the well-developed U.S debt market, UBS had the confidence to commit to the debt financing portion of the deal.
"It was a transaction that involved 30 plus people at UBS," said Ted Larkin, managing director and head of equity capital markets at UBS. "You had the commodity group that understood molybdenum. You had the credit team that visited all these assets and did the due diligence to make sure we could lend against them." The combination of an international bank on the debt side and a domestic bank on the equity side made a lot of sense, and was similar to the team-up of GMP and Credit Suisse First Boston when HudBay Minerals Inc. bought Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. in 2004, said Paul Stein, a securities lawyer at Cassels Brock who worked on both transactions.
"The strength and the value-add of UBS was that the vendor had confidence in them. They were able to stand up on the debt side to get the deal done," he said. "On the equity side the power of that syndicate came from GMP, so it was a very interesting combination." Mr. McDonald and the investment bankers visited seven cities in 12 days, holding 75 meetings during that time to sell the deal to investors. "When you\'re raising $230-million for a $100-million market-cap company you don\'t leave any stones unturned," Mr. Estey said.
Blue Pearl ended up funding the purchase with a $230-million public equity offering, a US$405-million term debt facility and a US$35-million equity sale to one of the vendors of Thompson Creek. In addition to the US$575-million purchase price, Mr. Mooney will receive an additional payment of US$125-million in early 2008 if the price of molybdenum doesn\'t fall dramatically.
The equity portion of the offering rose due to strong demand from investors, even though Blue Pearl was able to price it much higher than originally expected because the stock soared after the acquisition was announced.
"It was quite extraordinary to see a stock rally in the face of a sizeable equity issue," said Mr. Wellings. "Everyone was interested, we have had clients calling in from everywhere even though we haven\'t provided research." Mr. McDonald attributes meeting Mr. Mooney\'s criteria, which included a relatively short time line, an all-cash bid and few staff cuts, for helping him seal the deal. This was despite the presence of rival bidders with deeper pockets, rumoured to have included other miners, private equity firms, and billionaire Warren Buffett.
Blue Pearl was recently added to the S&P/TSX composite index. Mr. McDonald is now executive chairman, while former Thompson Creek executive Kevin Loughery has taken on the roles of president and chief executive.
Mr. McDonald acknowledges that Blue Pearl itself is probably a takeover target, but says the company is focused on its operations, with plans including the possible expansion of the Endako mine and completing the final feasibility study for the Davidson property.
Financial Post lmcleod@nationalpost.com
(C) Financial Post 2007
- 30 -
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Blue Pearl Mining Ltd.
INDUSTRY: Manufacturing and Production - Mining and Metals
SUBJECT: STK - STOCK/OTHER MARKET NEWS
Optionen
1
This article appeared on January 30, 2007, in a special Dealmakers section of the Financial Post, which is the business section of the National Post published in Toronto, Canada.
Best Regards, Wayne Cheveldayoff
Director of Investor Relations
Blue Pearl Mining Ltd.
wcheveldayoff@bluepearl.ca
www.bluepearl.ca
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/...cde439a1f&k=31923
A Blue Pearl of a deal UBS,GMP help small molybdenum producer become a giant Lori McLeod Financial Post
As Canada lamented the sale of some of its biggest mining companies to international rivals last year, an unlikely deal vaulted homegrown Blue Pearl Mining Co. on to the world stage.
Formerly a shell with just three employees, Blue Pearl transformed itself into a giant pure-play molybdenum miner through the purchase of a company worth six times its value. Molybdenum, or moly as it is called in the industry, is a metal used to make such products as high-strength, corrosion-resistant steel used in skyscrapers and pipelines.
Investors and industry watchers have lauded Blue Pearl\'s purchase of Thompson Creek Metals Co. for creating a world-class mining company, and sent the stock soaring to the $8-to-$10-range recently, five times where it was trading a year ago.
"To have two producing mines generating significant cash flow and being vended into a small company was very attractive," said Mark Wellings, managing director of investment banking at GMP Securities L.P., which co-led the financing for the acquisition with UBS Securities Canada Inc.
"You had two recognized operations that were large open pits, with all the equipment, mills and associated processing facilities. These are real world-class moly mines." The purchase of Thompson Creek by its smaller peer required a significant fundraising effort, with investment banks GMP and UBS helping Blue Pearl secure US$575-million in equity and debt, a huge amount for a company with a market capitalization of around $100-million.
"When you start talking price, it was clear that a company like Blue Pearl, a $100-million market cap, would need an innovative financial solution to afford the transaction," said Jim Estey, president and chief executive of UBS Securities Canada. "Blue Pearl looked to UBS, and said, \'What could you lend against these assets?\' It was on the back of us being able to lend a certain amount that this deal could go through." The story begins when Ian McDonald, who had previously founded mining firms Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. and Glencairn Gold Corp., bought the Davidson Project, a molybdenum exploration property near Smithers, B.C.
"When we negotiated it in April, 2004, moly was at about US$14 per pound (it is now trading in the US$25 per pound range). Timing in life is the most important thing, and we were certainly very fortunate," Mr. McDonald said.
Downstream from Mr. McDonald\'s property was Endako, a producing molybdenum mine majority-owned by 72-year-old Steven Mooney. The founder of Thompson Creek, Mr. Mooney also owned another molybdenum mine in Idaho and an ore processing facility.
When the Davidson mine went into production, Mr. McDonald hoped to be able to haul his ore for treatment at Mr. Mooney\'s smelter. While the companies were hammering out a deal Blue Pearl came out with good exploration results, its stock went up, and Mr. McDonald\'s thoughts instead turned to an acquisition.
"I made them an offer to buy Endako. Mooney came back and said \'If you can raise that much money, because you don\'t have any of it right now, why don\'t you raise enough to buy the whole thing?\'" For Mr. McDonald, who calls himself "a guy who loves the deal," it was an exciting but daunting suggestion. He enlisted the help of GMP, who he had worked with in the past at Wheaton River.
"All of a sudden Ian\'s in this situation where he\'s saying \'Holy cow, we can buy the whole thing, but its gonna\' cost us a half a billion bucks. Can we do it?\'" Mr. Wellings said. With its institutional and retail client base, large trading desk and experience in the mining sector, GMP was confident it could sell the equity portion of the deal.
At the same time, Mr. Mooney had enlisted the help of the Canadian arm of Swiss investment bank UBS Securities to assist with the sale process. With its global mining expertise and access to the well-developed U.S debt market, UBS had the confidence to commit to the debt financing portion of the deal.
"It was a transaction that involved 30 plus people at UBS," said Ted Larkin, managing director and head of equity capital markets at UBS. "You had the commodity group that understood molybdenum. You had the credit team that visited all these assets and did the due diligence to make sure we could lend against them." The combination of an international bank on the debt side and a domestic bank on the equity side made a lot of sense, and was similar to the team-up of GMP and Credit Suisse First Boston when HudBay Minerals Inc. bought Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. in 2004, said Paul Stein, a securities lawyer at Cassels Brock who worked on both transactions.
"The strength and the value-add of UBS was that the vendor had confidence in them. They were able to stand up on the debt side to get the deal done," he said. "On the equity side the power of that syndicate came from GMP, so it was a very interesting combination." Mr. McDonald and the investment bankers visited seven cities in 12 days, holding 75 meetings during that time to sell the deal to investors. "When you\'re raising $230-million for a $100-million market-cap company you don\'t leave any stones unturned," Mr. Estey said.
Blue Pearl ended up funding the purchase with a $230-million public equity offering, a US$405-million term debt facility and a US$35-million equity sale to one of the vendors of Thompson Creek. In addition to the US$575-million purchase price, Mr. Mooney will receive an additional payment of US$125-million in early 2008 if the price of molybdenum doesn\'t fall dramatically.
The equity portion of the offering rose due to strong demand from investors, even though Blue Pearl was able to price it much higher than originally expected because the stock soared after the acquisition was announced.
"It was quite extraordinary to see a stock rally in the face of a sizeable equity issue," said Mr. Wellings. "Everyone was interested, we have had clients calling in from everywhere even though we haven\'t provided research." Mr. McDonald attributes meeting Mr. Mooney\'s criteria, which included a relatively short time line, an all-cash bid and few staff cuts, for helping him seal the deal. This was despite the presence of rival bidders with deeper pockets, rumoured to have included other miners, private equity firms, and billionaire Warren Buffett.
Blue Pearl was recently added to the S&P/TSX composite index. Mr. McDonald is now executive chairman, while former Thompson Creek executive Kevin Loughery has taken on the roles of president and chief executive.
Mr. McDonald acknowledges that Blue Pearl itself is probably a takeover target, but says the company is focused on its operations, with plans including the possible expansion of the Endako mine and completing the final feasibility study for the Davidson property.
Financial Post lmcleod@nationalpost.com
(C) Financial Post 2007
- 30 -
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Blue Pearl Mining Ltd.
INDUSTRY: Manufacturing and Production - Mining and Metals
SUBJECT: STK - STOCK/OTHER MARKET NEWS
Schon bekannt???
Optionen
1
