Originally posted by binwood
Directors couldn't be buying (especially in the quantities they are if a takeover was imminent). In saying that Buckler and co. must have some form of exit strategy. $15m is massive money to stump up into a company when you can't really sell on market and performance hasn't been shooting the lights out.
Almost a year since the TO rumours started. Maybe if they can bed down operational issues and get some runs on the board this Q we might see corporate activity around April/May.
Looking at the failure of last year’s takeover from the other side, maybe you are right Binwood ...
This is old news, so no doubt it has been posted before, but the fact is last year the buyer may have simply run out of funds ?
ie Optium Nano -JRO’s battery producer went from being fourth largest battery manufacturer in the world to having to shut shop for six months from last July .....ie until December 2018.
Which means it is possibly now funded and up and running again ?
“...In 2017, Optimum Nano built enough lithium-iron-phosphate batteries to produce 5.6 gigawatt hours of electricity, making it the third-largest in China, said Wei.........
......
.......In March, Australian lithium producer Altura Mining said it was in talks with Shaanxi J&R about potentially being acquired by the Chinese firm, which already holds a 16.87 percent stake in Altura.
But on April 2, Shaanxi J&R said 13 of its and Optimum Nano’s bank accounts had been frozen by a Wuhan court and the company’s general manager Li Yao resigned this week.
Wei said Shaanxi J&R was talking to a syndicate of around 10 banks to extend the repayment deadline for its debt....”.....
https://www.reuters.com/article/chi...o-slashes-output-amid-debt-woes-idUSL3N1SI2ZI
From looking into this further it seems the company may have been nobbled straight after Jr Optimum started talking about buying Altura as the financier - China State Bank - had agreed to stake it to the equivalent of about
three billion US dollars in December 2017 - just four months earlier.(
http://m.optimumnanolithiumbattery....and-innovation-alliance-reached-11015500.html)
Instead it pulled the plug to such a degree that rather than buying Altura, Optimum was forced to shut down it’s factory for six months from last July .
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/E...No.-4-battery-maker-halts-output-for-6-months
Maybe Optimum Nano is funded and coming to life again in 2019?
If so is the reason the takeover deal fell flat last August now removed ?
Anyway I am also intrigued by the take up by directors and also wonder if it has anything to do with a potential takeover.
The timing is certainly interesting.
Cheers
PS
Here’ are some more reference links from the Australian side :
Re takeover:
“The Lithium Sector Surge Is Poised to Ignite a Deals Bonanza
By David Stringer, Jack Farchy, and Crystal Tse. 21 March 2018
.....“Shaanxi J&R Optimum Energy Co. has held talks on a potential takeover of a new Australian miner. ..”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...surge-is-poised-to-ignite-a-bonanza-for-deals
Re No takeover:
Daniel Paproth. On August 9, 2018
“Altura knocks back takeover and goes all in on lithium; shares climb 5pc
Altura said at the time that discussions were preliminary, noting “there is no certainty that any transaction will proceed, and if so, on what terms”.
Today Altura put the nail in the coffin, saying that after an extensive evaluation period “any change of control would be unlikely to deliver an appropriate valuation outcome for shareholders”.....
......
Altura gave two reasons for knocking back the approach: depressed market sentiment towards listed lithium stocks and its focus on commissioning its Pilgangoora project under the existing ownership structure.”...
https://unauthorised investment adv...-goes-all-in-on-lithium-shares-climb-5pc/amp/
-More background on J&R Optimum Energy:
July 2017 binding offtake agreement
here
“J&R Optimum Energy is listed in Shenzhen (SZSE code: 300116) and wholly owns the Optimum Nano battery operations also headquartered in Shenzhen, China....”
Finally for anyone interested
https://www.chinalawblog.com/2018/06/china-car-batteries-its-the-technology.html
Chinese law blog noting opposition battery company, CATL, was launched on disallowed just weeks before Nano was forced to take it’s compulsory ‘holiday’
It seems the big financial clout jdecided to support CATL the new company?
“
CATL’s advantage rests almost entirely on China’s preferential policies. First, the Chinese government is providing substantial subsidies to EVs for domestic transport. Second, the Chinese government has set the rules so that only EVs using product from Chinese battery makers (CATL and BYD) qualify for these subsidies. This is not a market phenomenon, it is simply an artifact of Chinese government subsidies. This means CATL is entirely dependent on the subsidy program. If the subsidies end, the CATL market advantage disappears”.
