Member Info for ffcmember

Good on you Fred I'm sure yours would have been measured comments !

ffc

For those of you that haven't voted yet ?? If your vote is through a broker please check the cut off date !!

HL have a deadline of noon tomorrow 26th Feb

Don't miss out it's far to important .

GLA

ffc

Leading shareholder advisory groups have recommended that Sirius Minerals investors accept the company’s proposed £405 million takeover by Anglo American.

Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis both advised investors in the North Yorkshire fertiliser mine developer to vote in favour of the 5½p-a-share offer, echoing a warning by Sirius’s board that if they did not they would risk being wiped out altogether.

ISS said: “While this proposal represents a disappointing outcome for many shareholders, the company is set to run out of cash by the end of March 2020 and this transaction is the only viable option identified.”

Glass Lewis said that it believed the deal was “reasonable and in the best interests of shareholders”, given that otherwise Sirius was “likely to be placed into administration or liquidation and that shareholders would face the risk of receiving little, if any, value for their holdings in this process”.

Sirius Minerals is developing the Woodsmith mine near Whitby to produce polyhalite, a nutrient-rich mineral, from a mile beneath the North York Moors National Park and to transport it through a 23-mile tunnel to Teesside for processing and export.

It has already invested more than $1 billion in the project but has failed to raise the $3 billion needed to complete it, sending its shares — worth 37p less than two years ago — plummeting. It reluctantly recommended the takeover by Anglo after concluding that it had no other options to prevent it going bust.

The takeover is in doubt largely owing to uncertainty over the voting intentions of Sirius’s retail shareholders, who numbered 85,000 as of the end of 2018, when they owned about half of the company. Many have vowed to vote against the deal, either because they believe a better offer or alternative funding model could materialise, or because they want to punish management. Odey Asset Management, the hedge fund, also has threatened to vote against unless the offer is declared “final” or increased to 7p a share.

The deal requires approval by 75 per cent of Sirius shareholders by value and 50 per cent by number voting at a meeting a week today. In practice, many will be lodging their vote in advance through investment platforms or proxy voting agencies.

The Sharesoc Sirius shareholders group, a campaign body, said: “We have spoken with Anglo American and have requested concessions on pricing and/or on allowing existing shareholders to retain a continued economic interest in the project. They have very politely told us that the choice for shareholders is a simple yes or no.”

LTV ,
Hope ?
Who knows what terms of employment they are all on and how any of them would feel about working for someone else ..
Everyone has mouths to feed no matter what level your qualifications are ..
I'm sure they are all privy to a hell of a lot more than we are ..
We don't know who may be leaving or not! this is just guesswork here from all of us !

LTV
It would be easy to see Clark moving on IF he knew of the aal deal .. I'm guessing but aal were involved with ICL when he worked at Boulby ???

I really can't see administration if this deal is thrown out !

GLA

ffc

Not absolutely sure but wasn't Simon Carter's name up at the same time as Clark re some kind of top brass shuffle ??

Poly there was something back in Nov-Dec that he was no longer a "director-board member" but nobody could work out the implications ???
Perhaps aal next move is to take you guys over it wouldn't surprise me !! would Clark have wanted to be interested with you again or visa-versa

That's a shame Fred .
Thanks for booking the table though, I'm still hoping to make it transport permitting ..
We'll keep you posted though I'm sure and lets hope we get the result we deserve ?

Trinity

I'd prefer it were a canoe with a leak tbh

I've been hoping that would declare their intentions but given it's getting close to DD day re voting through your brokers or Friday deadline for all votes it's not looking likely ?

The hedge fund run by Crispin Odey is threatening to raise its stake in Sirius Minerals if the share price slides, deepening doubts about a £405m takeover of the embattled miner by FTSE 100 giant Anglo American.

Odey Asset Management has acquired a 1.3% stake at an average price of 4.9p a share and is pushing for an increase in Anglo’s takeover bid from 5.5p to 7p or more. It is poised to up its holding if the share price falls back from its closing price on Friday of 5.2p.

Last Wednesday, Odey manager Henry Steel wrote to Anglo and Sirius, saying the current offer did “not represent fair value” for Sirius investors and claiming Anglo “would be willing to bid substantially more” for the fertiliser miner. He noted Anglo’s offer was not “final” and suggested an interloper could make a counterbid.

Sirius was set up in 2003 to mine polyhalite, which is used as a fertiliser, under the North York moors. It faced a cash crunch as costs spiralled, and the board urged investors to back the £405m deal last month. At its peak, Sirius was in the FTSE 250 and had a valuation of more than £1bn.

Odey’s intervention has been a blow to Anglo, which must convince tens of thousands of small investors that the deal is the only way to avoid bankruptcy.

A shareholder vote on March 3 is expected to be close. As of December 2018, 85,000 individuals held almost half of Sirius’s shares. Anglo needs to win a majority of those voting, as well as the support of 75% by value.

Retired farmer Ron Pritchard, 75, invested £130,000 in Sirius instead of a pension. “I’m glad some of the big boys are getting involved. It gives you hope that something big might happen,” he said of Odey.

He said whatever happens, he’d vote against the takeover to stop Sirius boss Chris Fraser making money. “It’s sheer principle. My life will be messed up anyway,” said Pritchard. Fraser has a 1.8% stake worth £6.8m, and will join Anglo for at least a year.

A source close to Anglo said of Odey: “These guys are there to skin a few people and put the whole thing at risk.” Raising the offer from 5.5p to 7p would not comfort investors whose savings were wiped out after falling from a peak of 45p, they said.

LTV I just had to say I completely agree with your 8.05
That is exactly why I have voted NO

I’m contributing here but cutting down unless I see sensible posts like that as I’m afraid it’s getting for to toxic for me.

Please guys if you do contact the times reporter by all means show some anger but stick to facts!!!!

Some of the comments recently have gone too far imo and will not win us any friends if posted in the press !!!

Gla

Ffc

This week Odey Asset Management waded in. The hedge fund run by Crispin Odey published an open letter from Henry Steel, a portfolio manage, pushing for a higher offer. It vowed to vote against the 5.5p-a-share bid unless it was declared “final”, but to accept any offer at 7p or above. Odey’s own stake is only 1.3 per cent, but the hedge fund is hoping to bring other funds on board, betting that Anglo will not want to risk the deal failing and have to fall back on buying Sirius out of administration.

The intervention also dangled more hope in front of retail shareholders, not only telling them that it believed Anglo would be prepared to bid substantially more but also suggesting that an “interloper” may emerge.

As Mr Steel points out, another complicating factor is turnout. Past AGMs have had only 35 per cent voting, giving “greatly magnified power to Sirius shareholders who do vote”. Anglo American has enlisted Georgeson to call shareholders and is promoting adverts on social networking sites urging them to vote.

Tyler Broda, of RBC Capital Markets, sees no reason for Anglo to increase its offer. “Until there is a practical alternative bid out there that stops [Sirius] from falling into bankruptcy, I don’t see what would drive that,” he says. He believes that ultimately Anglo’s efforts will prevail and that the vote will pass. “If it does go into administration, the current shareholders get nothing.” Voting no and holding out for a higher offer is, therefore, “a very high-risk path to take for shareholders . . . As a Sirius investor, is it worth risking everything for an extra 10 or 20 per cent?”

We will find out soon enough.

Yashmin Ismail freely admits that she had no background in mining when she became “heavily invested” in Sirius Minerals, the North Yorkshire fertiliser mine developer. The freelance copywriter from London decided to buy Sirius shares with the aim of subsidising her income so that she could spend more time with her young son. “With all the propaganda that Sirius spewed out, it seemed like a safe bet,” she says.

It hasn’t turned out that way. Having bought in as high as 30p, Ms Ismail faces heavy losses. Sirius — which says the risks of investing were always made clear — has reluctantly decided to recommend a 5.5p-a-share takeover bid from Anglo American after struggling to secure the $3 billion in funding that it needed to complete its ambitious polyhalite mine near Whitby.

However, Ms Ismail has decided she won’t give up without a fight. She has joined forces with others through Share Soc, the organisation that supports retail investors, which secured a meeting with management and broached the possibility of existing shareholders stumping up the $600 million (about £460 million) that the company needs to fund the next two years’ work.

Ms Ismail has set up the Fund Sirius campaign that is seeking shareholder pledges to try to convince Sirius there is an appetite for a £460 million for a bond issue. “The word on the street in the shareholder community is people are willing to chip in,” she says. As of last night, it had expressions of interest of only £18.3 million.

While there is little evidence to suggest Ms Ismail’s campaign can succeed, it is one of the reasons that the fate of Anglo’s £405 million takeover for Sirius Minerals is in some jeopardy. Sirius has a substantial retail shareholder base. As of December 2018, there were 85,000 individual investors holding close to half the stock.

Those close to the deal fear that the campaign risks distracting from what they insist is the real choice — back Anglo’s deal or see Sirius going bust, wiping out their investments altogether. Feelings among shareholders are running high. Many speak angrily of feeling betrayed. Some have said that they would rather vote the deal down and lose everything than see Sirius’s management move to lucrative jobs at Anglo. Others seem unwilling to believe that the situation is as Sirius makes out and are convinced a saviour offering a better deal is out there.

To pass at a meeting on March 3, the deal must be approved by 75 per cent of those voting by value of shareholdings, and a simple majority by number. A large number of small investors opposed to the deal could derail it.

This week Odey Asset Management waded in. The hedge fund run by Crispin Odey published an open letter from Henry Steel, a portfolio manage, pushing for a higher offer. It vowed to vote against the 5.5p-a-share bid unless it was declared “final”, but to accept any offer at 7p or above. Odey’s own stake is only 1.3 per cent, but the hedge fund is hoping to bring other funds on

Go on Fred you would be perfect the last thing we need is vile comments getting no sympathy!!!!

Ha ha I don’t think they’ll be able to print any text from the godly one
Hey Fred you would the perfect one to talk to them ?

Regards

Ffc

I have called hl so many times I’ve lost the will ——
Just checking but has anyone managed to pull a share for the single vote out of a Sipp ????
I was told you can only do that with an isa?
It seems it’s to late other than the isa method to do it ???

http://www.fundsirius.com

Asked why Anglo had not set scope 3 emissions reductions targets, Mr Cutifani said it did not want to “throw a date or target out there” without understanding the consequences and took a swipe at rivals.

“I think there are too many people throwing stuff around at the moment and I suspect many don’t understand or aren’t committed to making the changes,” he said. He then denied this was a reference to BP.

Mr Cutifani said targets were meaningless without “substance” to show how they would be met and that Anglo planned to set out its own plans in April. “It’s all about what you do, not what you say you’re going to do,” he adde