£60m Unrestricted Cash20 Jan 2020 23:50
'As at 31 December 2019, Sirius had approximately £59.9 million of unrestricted cash, which was broadly in line with the expected capital spend when the strategic review was announced on 17 September 2019. Unless Sirius is able to secure additional funding or a merger or acquisition transaction involving Sirius by the end of March 2020 or soon thereafter, the Sirius Board would be required to place Sirius into administration or liquidation, which could result in Shareholders losing all of their investment in Sirius.
In conjunction with this review, Anglo American actively explored an interest in Sirius during Q4 2019. On 6 January 2020 the Sirius Board received a non-binding indicative proposal from Anglo American expressing an interest in acquiring Sirius. On 8 January 2020, Sirius announced that it was in advanced discussions with Anglo American regarding a possible all-cash offer of 5.50 pence per Sirius Share for the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of Sirius. Following receipt of the Anglo American proposal, the Sirius Board carefully assessed the merits of the proposal against the potential alternative options from other parties involved in the ongoing strategic investor and debt financing processes and also in light of the Sirius Group's current and expected liquidity position.
The most advanced alternative proposal was a potential debt financing proposal from a consortium of financial investors. In December 2019, Sirius received a non-binding term sheet from the consortium to form the basis of a US$680 million funding package to cover the initial scope of work. On 9 January 2020, Sirius received a revised non-binding term sheet from the consortium. The Sirius Board reviewed the proposed terms and conditions, together with its advisers, and concluded that the consortium's conditions and the time it would take to meet such conditions were such that there is a very material risk that the overall funding package would not be implementable by the end of March 2020. Based on the backdrop of the search for a standalone funding solution undertaken over the last 4 months and the extensive discussions held during that timeframe, the Sirius Board believes that, at this time, there is not likely to be an alternative to the Acquisition other than administration or liquidation.'
Q1. We could theoretically survive imo if a 'Freeze' on all activities was made now in order to explore the potential debt financing proposal from a consortium of financial investors?
Q2. Why were Sirius Share Holders not informed of this until now?
Q3. From my understanding, a GM may be called if 5% of shareholders request it to question and appraise the potential debt financing proposal. After all, I do actually think we are at the very least owed that explanation, do you think same?