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HopgoodGanim advises on Metallica Minerals raising
HopgoodGanim Lawyers has advised Metallica Minerals Limited in its successful fully underwritten renounceable rights issue to raise about $4.9 million.
The New Lawyer
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The company announced in June that it intended to raise the funds to advance two of its key minerals projects in Queensland. These include the Nornico nickel, cobalt and scandium project northwest of Townsville as well as the Weipa zircon/rutile minerals sands project in Cape York.
The rights issue was fully underwritten by RBS Morgans Corporate Limited.
HopgoodGanim partner Michael Hansel and senior associate Lea Fua advised Metallica Minerals on this fundraising.
Hansel said it's a positive result for the company, "especially given the current market conditions where raising funds by listed public companies can be difficult".
“The offer was also interesting because in addition to the offer of Metallica Minerals shares, the rights issue offer also included two shares that Metallica Minerals holds in ASX-listed Planet Metals Limited for every new Metallica Minerals share subscribed for under the rights issue.
"In addition to raising funds for Metallica Minerals, the transaction should result in an increase in Planet Metals securities’ liquidity through the introduction of new shareholders," Hansel said.
Metallica Minerals chairman David Barwick, said the capital raising would reduce the company’s current 76 per cent stake (45.4 million shares) in Planet Metals’ issued capital to 37 per cent or 22 million of Planet’s 59.7 million ordinary shares on issue.
Metallica’s shares on issue will rise by 11.7 million to 128.7 million.
“The ability to structure the capital raising this way is one of the benefits of Metallica having built up a spread of direct investments in other Queensland minerals houses and/or commodities,” Barwick said.
“It means Metallica can raise funds at an attractive price to its shareholders, sell some of its shares in Planet Metals to Metallica shareholders so they have direct ownership in another explorer, and the company still retains a significant direct interest in Planet Metals’ gold and copper prospectivity at Mount Cannindah and Mount Borium.
“One of the other outcomes of the raising will be increased liquidity for Planet Metals in which Metallica will continue to retain a significant one third or so stake," he said.
