blumont response, page-74

My aplogies guy, I said Bloomberg - I should have said Wall Street Journal.

The link is here (just copy and paste in browser) - the article also mentions Blumont and all three cos mentioned in Beachcomber's post. Seems like they are linked which is a worry! I have copied and pasted the article blow the link just in case some cannot get to it.

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/10/03/singapore-exchange-suspends-trading-in-shares-of-three-companies/?mod=yahoo_hs


"Singapore Exchange Ltd. suspended trading in three companies’ shares on Friday after they plunged dramatically earlier in the day, wiping out billions of dollars of market value and months of big share-price gains.
Within the first hour of trading, sterilization-services provider Blumont Group Ltd. had lost more than 56% of its market value, while shares of Asiasons Capital Ltd. and LionGold Corp. plunged by 61% and 42%, respectively. The declines erased a combined 4.8 billion Singapore dollars (US$3.9 billion) in market capitalization.
In separate statements, the bourse said the suspensions, all announced within six minutes, were meant “to safeguard the interests of the market,” which might not be “fully informed.” The suspensions were the first ordered by the bourse in 13 years on the grounds of maintaining an “orderly, informed or fair” market. It didn’t say when or under what conditions trading in the companies’ shares might be allowed to resume.
The exchange asked the three companies to explain the declines, which followed weeks of dramatic gains in the share prices of all three.
In response, Blumont said its share price may have been affected by its proposed takeover of Australian coal miner Cokal Ltd., as well as recent trading restrictions placed on its stock by an unnamed local brokerage. The company announced before the market opened on Friday that it had agreed to a takeover of an unnamed foreign-listed coal mining company for up to S$146 million, which it revealed late Friday to be Cokal.
Asiasons–an asset-management and investment firm–said separately that it was informed of “malicious market rumors” that the Monetary Authority of Singapore had sent a team to investigate the company, and denied these rumors.
In its response, LionGold said it was in advanced talks to buy a stake in an unnamed gold-mining company that is listed on three foreign stock exchanges. The talks could also lead to LionGold making a takeover offer, it said. The company also cited as a possible factor recent trading restrictions placed on its stock by a local brokerage. Asiasons is LionGold’s single largest shareholder, with an 8.9% stake as of Aug. 20.
In a filing late Friday, Blumont said it has agreed with Cokal to cancel the proposed takeover “for the time being,” as the terms had been “materially and adversely affected” by the Singaporean company’s sharp loss in share value. Both companies would continue seeking mutually beneficial deals with each other, Blumont said.
Blumont said earlier that it planned to pay for the deal by issuing 72.2 million new shares at S$2.02 each–its closing price Thursday. Its share price fell to 88 Singapore cents before trading was suspended."