Its just a 'sighter'...28 Nov 2025 16:13
In my opinion...
"a possible cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Company at a price of 26 pence "
As I've said before JCC needs to make a knockout bid otherwise a battle will ensue...
So some might say they're daft to start at 26p...but think about it....
The Board won't even look at a bid below 60p...so why have JCC bid 26p rather than 60p?
Two possible reasons:
1 To see how the market and other possible bidders respond...flush them out...the likes of BHP and Newmont now have to make a decision and/or sharpen their pencils...do they engage and counterbid...in which case at what price...do they sit back and see what happens? One thing is for sure they must make some sort of decision right now, otherwise potentially watch a Tier 1 mine and a locked in source of gold and copper, both breaking out, go to the Chinese, thereby tightening the market further...
2 If they had opened at 60p they make themselves a hostage to fortune because the whole ensuing battle is levered up higher than immediately necessary. So for now, knowing that they have the resources and the patience they can sit back and watch the market and other majors' reaction and respond accordingly.
Its hard to look beyond their ultimately succeeding because they have the limitless resources of the PRC behind them and a successful bid would tighten their armlock on a critical metal and gold which they can make sure it flies...it also gives them a powerful relationship with Ecuador and sticks two fingers up at Trump...
So lets see what ensues...
Oh and BTW because this battle will be very visible, it could kickstart the M&A 'fest' I have previously predicted, so watch the coming bids for 'consolation prizes' and the majors' fears of missing out...
AIMHO of course