Member Info for extrader

Let's see what, if anything , transpires at the AGM tomorrow.

The Notice all seems pretty boilerplate stuff, with the resolutions re share issuance authority tweaked to reflect the rise in shares in issue. The authority to issue shares for cash is now 46.05 million, up from 43.9 million, so plenty of headroom if they want to renew/refresh the Shard Capital programme.

Ho hum.

Thanks for this, Adzy, which I've cross-posted.

Key bit : .."Testing universal vaccines in human challenge studies will be important, too, the authors [Fauci and 2 highranking NIAID researchers]argue. That type of research could accelerate vaccine development, but it’s ethically complicated because it involves intentionally infecting people to test a vaccine..."

The article is ostensibly about coronavirus, but also (happy days) references the search for a universal flu vaccine. Hmmm....

Maybe with guru Fauci's endorsement, HMG will finally grow a pair.

AIUI, IMO, etc etc

Thanks for the link. For the time-constrained, the POLB bit starts at min 25:30...

HTH

Thoughts on takeover bid :
- Price ? Whatever it's worth to the bidder - which may not be monetary, but strategic eg Tesco buying up supermarket sites not because it intends to open a new store but to make sure Aldi or Lidl or whoever don't/can't.
- Cathal's view ? Not a decisive factor : he speaks for 7% or so of the shares and (most folk seem to agree) has indifferent institutional support; some recent PI's who bought in on the run-up; but a lot of LTH's who might feel minded to cash out at any reasonable opportunity now, esp in view of wider market considerations.
- the spin-offs ? Most folk seem to think that an acquirer might prefer a 'clean' CRO business, so may be minded to leave 'rump ORPH' for others to pick over...or CF to run with.

Would HMG - despite seemingly being loath to use ORPH itself - be willing to see it pass into overseas ownership ? Could be a bit of a poison pill defence there, guys.....;-<

All AFAICS, IMO...

Thank you, Theanalyzer. The David Bull common link makes sense.
The other common, historical link between ECP and SYME (and Epsion) - John Michael Treacy - is part of the 'previous management'.

Thank you for your eloquent and considered post, Mr E.

Total is a major international energy co and a protege (some would say ‘arm’ ) of the French Government.
To expect lil’ ol’ NCCL to have the same clout seems fanciful, IMO.

This makes no sense.

You can vote Y/N as to whether steps should be taken.

But, if Y, you don't know what steps might be proposed, so how can you vote on them ?
You don't know how BoD will vote..or (again) on what ?
You don't even know whether the BoD will vote the way they say they intend to (or how many votes they will actually cast, based on past performance).
I'm surprised that new Chair JC has signed up for this format.

Ho hum.

I would have thought that this gentleman might owe investors an explanation . From the Prospectus :

page 54 : Simon Charles (Aged 49)
Mr Charles joined the Company’s board [ABAL Group plc] in 2011 and became its chairman in 2018 following the Company’s
further recapitalisation and restructuring. He is a solicitor and is joint senior partner in London solicitors
Marriott Harrison LLP, advising companies and investors on company.

page 34 : Marriott Harrison were legal advisers for the RTO.

Maybe someone attending the GM will ask for clarification.

Thanks Mitch,

Pretty much every scenario painted concludes that 'we're awaiting events'.
" ZIOC ain't in the driving seat, bro "

Ho hum

Cont...

belinga is one such project that bongo prioritizes given the profile of investors. bhp is partnering with indian abhijeet infrastructure ltd., who will link the project to the trans-gabon railway at booué. if the railway is quickly constructed, sundance resources, which is waiting for the cameroonian government to approve the terms of sale of its mbalam iron ore project to china’s hanlong mining investment, could choose to connect with the trans-gabon railway. although the cameroonian government recently declared the proposed land in rail corridor from mbalam to lolabé port for public utility, it is possible that hanlong (or sundance) could change its mind and decide that exporting iron ore through gabon. after all, the distance from mbalam to booué is about the same from mbalam to lolabé. in this scenario, whose likelihood increases in the event china abandons or brings in an outside partner to develop mbalam, gabon and cameroon would likely run in to the same squabbles as liberia and guinea are having over exporting iron ore from simandou. similarly, bhp could choose to connect export its iron ore through cameroon, especially given that sundance has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with equatorial resources to share iron ore infrastructure resources.

while bhp, gabon, and possibly cameroon could benefit from belinga, china certainly does not emerge a winner, as losing the mine is a further blow to its plan of diversifying its sources of iron ore. about 85% of china’s iron ore comes from australia, brazil, india, and south africa, and the government does not want to be too dependent on a handful of countries. the chinese government has embarked on a flurry of joint ventures and partnerships across west africa—in guinea (chinalco’s simandou), in sierra leone (shandong iron and steel group’s tonkolili), and in liberia (wisco’s bong mines)—with the intention of providing its own domestic steel producers with a stable and diverse supply of iron ore that would ultimately allow them to be self-sufficient. along with mbalam, belinga was to be completed owned by chinese interests (a first in its african iron ore expansion), giving it license to some of the world’s largest iron ore projects. ownership of projects with high-grade iron ore would permit it to skip the expensive process of beneficiation, which would allow it to bypass much of the local content pressures that would ultimately be demanded by host governments. further, direct access and control to some of the world’s best quality iron ore would allow china to challenge the oligopolistic pricing of iron ore by rio tinto, vale, and bhp. despite the shift from an annual to quarterly system that more accurately reflects global trends, china remains uncomfortable being at the whim of the big three.

the setback in gabon will certainly prompt it to look more aggressively for new sources of the strategically important resource...."

Different countries, similar issues !

Hi allthatguff,

Thanks for this ! Fortescue is dusting off an old Aussie play, it would seem . See also possible infrastructural tie-in with ex Sundance Mbalam.

africaforinvestormouth.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/who-benefits-from-belinga/

in 2007, gabon gave the belinga project to the china national machinery & equipment import and export corporation (cmec) to develop it over a 25 years. cmec promised the government that it would begin mining belinga’s high grade iron ore reserves (64%) by 2011, at a rate of 30 million tons per year under a $3.5 billion investment program. the infrastructure plan included constructing a 500km railway, a hydropower dam and port. ever since china began to drag its feet on the 1 billion ton project, the gabonese government has become increasingly impatient with its suitors from the far east. bhp, who had long been waiting in the wing, had been courting the government in the event that china could not fulfill its obligations.

although belinga is positive for gabon’s macroeconomic outlook, the country’s microeconomic outlook—employment and income distribution—will not improve because the quality of iron ore mined from belinga does not need to be beneficiated. another indication as to why there is likely to be minimal governmental interference in bhp’s acquisition of belinga is that the australian giant’s investments squares nicely with president ali bongo’s desire to break the commercial ties of françafrique that marked his father’s administration. ali’s grip on the country is stronger than that of his father, as he has further personalized his family rule, divided the political opposition, and has skilfully walked the country’s ethnic tightrope by appointing a diverse group of individuals in his government. the centralization of political power in gabon allows for bongo to fast-track many of his father's projects scattered through various ministries.

belinga is one such project that bongo prioritizes given the profile of investors. bhp is partnering with indian abhijeet infrastructure ltd., who will link the project to the trans-gabon railway at booué. if the railway is quickly constructed, sundance resources, which is waiting for the cameroonian government to approve the terms of sale of its mbalam iron ore project to china’s hanlong mining investment, could choose to connect with the trans-gabon railway. although the cameroonian government recently declared the proposed land in rail corridor from mbalam to lolabé port for public utility, it is possible that hanlong (or sundance) could change its mind and decide that exporting iron ore through gabon. after all, the distance from mbalam to booué is about the same from mbalam to lolabé.

Cont...

Primary Bid is circulating an offer re Equinox "... a British cannabis first-mover and holds one of the first Home Office issued Controlled Drugs Licences for high concentration THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) medical cannabis cultivation and production..."

IPO closes 3 Dec, let's see how it fares.

https://www.zanagairon.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ZIOC-2020-Annual-Report.pdf

HTH

.." Sometimes I think is it his bad English or is the use of ‘Arranger’ in the RNS title deliberate it’s certainly an odd word..."

These are not mutually exclusive propositions.

If SYME were on AIM, the NOMAD would be expected to make sure there was no uncertainty, accidental or otherwise.

As luck would have it.

Ho hum.

.."When your dealing with Intellectual property rights where you have a labyrinth of shell companies it could turn out to be a nightmare of who owns what and end up for years in the judicial system..."

Is there any suggestion that we're dealing with a labyrinth in this case, though ? It looks pretty straightforward.

I agree that use of PepTcell name in RNS is mildly unusual, on the face of it, no doubt the company will have its reasons.

Why not ask them, though ?

"The countdown has begun"

All good stuff...for next year's jam, but my stopwatch is currently engaged in timing arrival of the 3-4 buses that I understood were 'confidently' predicted at the AGM, over 2 1/2 months ago.

Ho hum.

.." Glencore would likely negotiate away its claim to the project to secure the repayment of its loans and securing future marketing contracts (with all its brown envelopes and secret handshakes with the right officials...).."

Normally I'd agree with you, but that's asking GLEN to trade a strong position for a weaker and much more nebulous one : after all, a C-B 'promise to pay' isn't worth very much in any currency.

I'd like to think that C-B (and maybe even China Inc) might be willing to let GLEN have offtake/marketing rights on C-B's min 10% stake in the project, C-B so that they could see they weren't being diddled on the sales revenue side, China Inc to make sure that BaoWu wasn't doing a transfer pricing scam to undercut other domestic steel producers....

IMO

.."By offering shareholders a £1 do you really think the vote would pass?.."

Yes. Founder shareholders and friends speak for a majority of shares, I'm sure...and the founder shareholders will have recovered most of their initial investment at the time of the director share sale at the time of the IPO.

Most PI's who bought in the IPO a decade ago at £ 2-56 (?) will have sold out/written off a long time ago, most current PI's will have bought in much lower, many even in single figs.

AIUI / IMO

.."Cant wait to see this sp rising like a phoenix from the ashes."

You could be nearer the mark than you think - A new phoenix rises from the ashes of its dead predecessor : it's a very real possibility (already mooted by others here), that SYME will be re-invented after a corporate restructuring that involves AZ engineered departure and TF/JC taking over a 'son of SYME', with Coyle's blessing.

IMO