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Interesting article and thanks for posting, but I think he completely misunderstands the implications of the package as it relates to BHP and New.

DBW, I love the fighting cider one.
I never got on with cider. I always found after 15 pints I felt a bit queasy.

Colonel, they only issue I have with your post is the suggestion BHP are 'quite happy'. The various reports yesterday appeared to imply they are not. In fact, far from it.

copperpot, excellent stuff is Bushmills. The only problem I have with it is that it makes me - how can I put this?...quite 'lively'.

copperpot, I'm sure you're correct to think Mather has bent over backwards to appease the government, despite this not being part of his nature. However, I'm not sure I agree with your point about the majors.
It may have been accurate years ago, but they've all had to change the way they do things and are now every bit as solicitous as anyone else. They know which side their bread is buttered.
The other point is a more practical one. I'd bet the government would be perfectly happy with a major taking this on. It would guarantee production will happen and would almost certainly mean it would be done quicker and without the problems a small business is bound to encounter. In other words, they'll start getting tax revenues much earlier, and after all, this is the only thing they're interested in.

Pad, interesting to see Newcrest attempt to play Alpala down - which is, of course, contrary to what they've said many times in the past. Transparent tactics.

DBW, surely it must be down to BHP?

I wonder if this is all part of a really clever ploy by NM?
He's turned his back on BHP/NEW for two reasons; one, he doesn't want them t o get control on the cheap (by issuing more shares to them at today's stupid valuation) and two, he hopes that by really annoying them he'll force their hand - a bit like prodding a wasps nest.
Who knows? But whatever the rationale, I think this may act as the catalyst for what many of us have been waiting for.

Have just seen Pad's post, which supplies the source.
I guess this is what some of us have been saying for a while...these fellas are really fed-up with NM, which is great news.
Time to take the gloves off, lads. I'm all yours for £2 a share.

Qalibashi, I wonder what Biswas actually wanted when he said he wanted a long term solution that suited existing shareholders?
The funding package is non-dilutive, so what could be better?
And where did you see the comment about them being pished-off with the package? And would New actually have dipped into their pockets? I doubt it. As far as I'm concerned, they'll be out of the picture soon - especially after his comments today about Hav.

if you were BHP?
You're not going to be remotely interested in seeing SOLG develop as an independent company and have zero wish to be a minority shareholder.
You'd probably be pleased Mather didn't knock on the door asking for more cash and are equally pleased he's pulled off a non-dilutive funding package.
But, are you really interested in seeing all that cash and, by definition, liability, appear on the balance sheet?
Do you really need the company to spend $150m on a DFS, when you don't need it? You have your own internal resources to complete the process and will not be requiring any bank support.
So, do you bid before the full amount of interim funding hits the balance sheet, or are you content to have it sitting there knowing you'll have to deal with it when you finally take full control?

DBW, you're absolutely right. As far as I'm aware, we are not expecting any other corporate news for some time, so it's difficult to see what would hold them back from buying.
I had thought they would buy if we had some form of placing, but we didn't and therefore, I think we can justifiably expect them to meet the unequivocal commitment they gave to buy. Come on lads, get your wallets out!

Ref my earlier point about dd, have a read of their dd policy. It's pretty thorough.

KB, They're a quoted company, aren't they?

rob, I don't see Newcrest as buyers (they are already 14% shareholders). As schlemiel says, they are years away from production and my guess is that they have almost disappeared from Newcrest's list of priorities.
I'm convinced New will sell their SOLG shares to BHP, who will be the eventual owners of SOLG (this is where the excitement lies with SOLG)

In addition to the really positive nature of the package, it also contains a very important message and that is, faith in Equador.
Franco are clearly Latin American experts and it can be taken as a given that they have extensive political contacts and have done a huge amount of dd on Equador. For me, this is one of the key features of their involvement. They are bankers and will therefore have been totally objective in terms of their assessment of political risk, which sometimes is not the case with trade investors.

exactly - they are well and truly stuffed.
Pity NM wasted all that time and effort trying to find a translator!

one thing to note; it's pretty obvious we were running on empty and this deal has given us immediate access to funds - which will no doubt be a huge relief for the company.

schlemiel, they've not been diluted, so I guess they'll be happy. Plus the fact the takeover door has been firmly left open.

iceberg, very well put.