RE: Interesting article18 Jan 2020 11:59
Look, arcm have played this both ways. They want a reduced SP, so their exposure is less on the short. They also own shares and with the debt come options on the warrants.
Their arguments are less about scuppering the deal and more about reducing the SP. PMO may have blind sided these guys whether intentional or not, but they have themselves to blame with the fact they bet against the company. I believe things started to go wrong when PMO announced the sale of Zama.
PMO have never hidden the fact they were looking at opportunities in NS to avail of the tax breaks that would come with such a move.
On the face of it i think PMO are doing the right thing, this will speed up debt reduction and adds to reserves that are on tap. Decommissioning will be a factor of course, but with brexit around the corner and the UK taking direct control of their environmental obligations a looser decommissioning strategy is in the offing with the conservatives in seat.
I think that moving to a debt ratio of 1 by 2022 is a significant step forward that will allow for a full refinancing in 2022/23 and then theres SL.