Waqa Link doesn't work27 Jul 2011 09:25
Talk that Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) could soon be saying farewell to life as a listed company meant investors were piling into the miner yesterday, leaving it as one of the blue-chip index's top performers.
According to the chitter-chatter, which pushed it up 10.5p to 791.5p, the group's major shareholders may team up with the Kazakh government – also the owner of a large stake – and attempt to take it private, although market voices were not convinced by the tale. With speculation a potential bid may be worth at least 1,200p a share, the suggestion was that such a move could come as a reaction to its depressed share price.
The miner trades at a sizeable discount to its peers partly as a result of concerns over its corporate governance, and a governance review – expected to last three months – was launched in June. Its mining rival Kazakhmys (which dipped 2p to 1,347p) owns 26 per cent of the group while over 40 per cent is in the hands of three Kazakh oligarchs, with a free float of under 20 per cent.
It is not the first time the miner has been the subject of speculation, after talk emerged earlier in the year that the commodity trader Glencore – down 4.35p to 480p – was mulling over an approach, although this was subsequently denied.