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Cape Lambert in 15m pound bidding war.

Article Date: Apr 14 2010

A Chinese rival has outbid Aussie-based activist resource investor Cape Lambert's offer for partly-owned iron ore play DMC.

Cape Lambert, where Frank Timis's AIM-quoted African Minerals is the largest shareholder with 19 per cent, has bid 40 Australian cents (23.5p) for the 63.8 per cent of Aussie-listed DMC it does not own, tempted by the infrastructure and potential economics of DMC's 80 per cent-owned Mayoko iron ore project in the once French-controlled Congo Republic. Today, a Chinese group has trumped Cape Lambert with a 46-cent (27p) offer.

Lambert boss Tony Sage cites broker's value estimates of 94 cents for DMC and suggests DMC's likely exit price will be around 75 cents, whoever wins. Since Cape Lambert originally brought in at 8 cents, he says he is fairly sanguine about either outcome.

Meanwhile, the company, which recently agreed to sell its Lady Annie copper mine in Queensland for nearly 80 million pounds , owns the Marampa iron ore project in Sierra Leone, following a deal with African Minerals. Lambert hopes to produce a 300-to-400 million tonne resource estimate for Marampa by the end of the year and suggests total resources there could top one billion tonnes.

UK and European institutions hold some 11.2 per cent of dividend-paying Cape Lambert, whose other holdings include a stake in Sierra Leone coal play Pinnacle Group, and 32 per cent of cash-rich Corvette Resources, with potentially attractive gold prospects near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

Cape Lambert, which has some 170 million pounds cash, de-listed from AIM in 2009 after differences with its nominated adviser, but, since Growth Company Investor recommended the shares last year at 11.75p, they have risen 143 per cent Down Under to the equivalent of 28.5p. They could have further to go for punters untroubled with holding overseas-listed securities.

*This story is from Growth Company Investor, the independent voice on fast-growing companies.

www.growthbusiness.co.uk