MOVERS ON MONDAY 5 OCTOBER 2020
(LON:WEIR ) shares rose 15.00% with the sale of its oil and gas division
The group has agreed to sell its oil and gas division to US heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc for $405m (£314m) in cash, as the engineering company focuses on its mining business.
Shares in The Weir Group surged 22.5% this morning to 1,568p, aligning it on track for their best day in more than 20 years, reported Thomas Reuters. It added that today’s sale follows ‘a collapse in global oil prices and a swathe of bankruptcies’ that has penetrated the sector.
The deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year, is expected to strengthen Weir’s balance sheet for future investments as well as provide futher investment flexibility. The deal also means Weir will have a $70 million U.S. cash tax benefit, the group told investors.
Jefferies analyst Andy Douglas said the deal removes a “problem child”, leaving Weir with a “very strong” business. He added that the price was higher than Jeffries had expected.
(AIM:BZT ) shares rose 34.48% to 0.195p after transaction update
The copper-gold exploration and development group updated investors on its transaction in relation to the disposal of its 80% interest in the Mankayan copper-gold project.
The copper-gold exploration and development group previously entered into a conditional transaction agreement with Mining and Minerals Industries (“MMIH”) back in October 2019.
Under the terms of the agreement, MMJV, a wholly owned subsidiary of MMIH, will acquire an 80% shareholding in Asean Copper Investments, a special purpose vehicle incorporated in the British Virgin Islands through which Bezant owns its interest in the Mankayan Project.
Today, Bezant Resources said that a non-binding term sheet, subject inter alia to due diligence, has been signed by AsiaPhos Ltd, a company listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited Catalist Board, in order for the company to acquire MMJV.
If the acquisition is completed then, under the terms set out between Bezant and MMIH, Bezant is due to be issued S$10m (circa. £5.6m) of shares in the listed entity holding MMJV.
(AIM:VELA ) shares jumped 20% to after finTech investment
The investment group operating within the technology field said it has invested £0.25m into finTech group Mode Global Holdings as part of a £7.5m initial public offering funding round.
Vela invested into Mode using existing cash resources and has subscribed for 500,000 new ordinary shares of 1p each in Mode, at a price of 50p per share, valuing Mode at £40.3m.
Commenting on the investment move, James Normand, Executive Director of Vela, said:
"We believe Mode has an exciting future as a listed company. We are pleased to participate in this oversubscribed fundraise. The Board continues to assess a number of other investment opportunities with a view to growing the Company's investment portfolio in the near future."
(AIM:WSBN ) shares rose 14.49% on news of an acquisition in WA
The precious metals trading and exploration company announced this morning that it has signed an exclusive 45 day option to acquire 100% ownership of 67 square kilometres of granted mineral exploration tenements in the Patersons Range region of Western Australia.
The area to be acquired holds three exploration licences over 57.4 square km, south-west of the Telfer gold mine in Western Australia and two further licenses, which are 6.4 and 3.2 square km respectively, located southeast of Telfer.
“The best acreage is tightly held and thus to secure a deal on these assets is a very significant development for Wishbone,” said Richard Poulden, Wishbone Gold's Chairman.
He added, “The Paterson Ranges host some of the most exciting gold and copper mines and discoveries in the Western Australian Pilbara region made in recent years.
Wishbone already has advanced exploration assets in Australia and therefore has the necessary geological consultants in place to progress all exploration programmes”
(LON:CINE ) shares plunged 37.55% to 24.61p as it shuts sites
Shares in Cineworld were down as low as 40% in early morning trading after the world’s second-biggest cinema group said it would close all of its UK and US cinemas indefinitely.
The decision to suspend operations in the UK and US from Thursday is ‘the most brutal blow yet to an industry already reeling from the pandemic,’ the Financial Times wrote this morning.
Analyst Nigel Parson of Canaccord Genuity, said the move “ratchets up the pressure on the studios to commit to their slates” of releases and that he expects other chains to follow suit.
About 45,000 staff will be affected, including 5,500 employees in the UK as well 20,000 in the US, where it expanded with its $3.6bn acquisition of Regal Entertainment in 2017.
"This is not a decision we made lightly, and we did everything in our power to support safe and sustainable reopenings in all of our markets - including meeting, and often exceeding, local health and safety guidelines in our theatres and working constructively with regulators and industry bodies to restore public confidence in our industry,” said CEO, Mooky Greidinger.
He added, “Cineworld will continue to monitor the situation closely and will communicate any future plans to resume operations in these markets at the appropriate time, when key markets have more concrete guidance on their reopening status and, in turn, studios are able to bring their pipeline of major releases back to the big screen."
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