There was always an element of risk in this investment for GBG holders - and that is fair enough.
There has to be risk for ALL parties to this project though - not primarily the private equity investors only.
We all know what has actually happened - the project has been held up - for various reasons - badly designed plant - poorly constructed equipment and - downright bad management- (purportedly)
As a result of these combined circumstances GBG private equity stakeholders find themselves in a situation where they have no control over the destiny of their investment - I, for one am not convinced that this was not always going to be their destiny.
For the sake of fairness in negotiation - both sides must have something to gain and possibly, something to lose. We simply cannot allow a Chinese State Owned Enterprise to sit on the fence and watch the private Australian equity part of the project be reduced to zero.
What is the risk component for the Chinese State here? - spend another few hundred million to secure a one hundred year supply of high quality magnetite at the rate on 10 millions tons a year - I think that the Chinese State Owned Enterprise will snap that up in an instant. and then we have a foreign state buying up Australian commodities on the cheap.
The risk for the foreign state owned entities based entities - must always be that they will NEVER have majority ownership and control of Australian land/projects.
By structuring projects so that foreign based companies cannot ever have total control - and sticking to this part of the deal - then there would be no incentive for foreign based State Owned Entities to manage a smaller private enterprise out of the picture.
If they have to cough up more cash to realise or complete projects - then so be it. Lets not be so dumb as to sell the farm for next weeks dinner.
If Anshan Steel Group (Chinese Government) are allowed to totally take over this project 100% - then what I personally will have learned is that whilst I always did have some doubt on how the Chinese would behave - I will not be able to trust the Australian government either - and that is the real disaster here.
GBG Price at posting:
2.3¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
