wah nam confident shareholders will sell

I challenge any shareholder to read this without dry-reaching. Proves that for the right amount of money some are willing to sell their souls.

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Wah Nam International confident Brockman Resources holders will sell in

by: Nick Evans, Business Reporter
From: PerthNow
December 13, 20118:33AM

WAH Nam International admits its valuation of Brockman may still be an issue in its efforts to mop up the remainder of the company, but says it is confident investors will sell into its renewed bid.

Wah Nam offered a cash sweetener to holdout investors yesterday, in an effort to gain control of the 45 per cent of Brockman shares the Hong Kong listed company doesn’t already control.

The bid, of $1.50 plus 18 Wah Nam shares, puts a total value on Brockman of $456 million, well below the $515 - $843 million valuation a Jones Lang LaSalle Sallmans independent report set on the company’s Marillana iron ore project in the Pilbara.

Wah Nam director Warren Beckwith told PerthNow that, while he wouldn’t pre-empt the results of an independent review of the offer, that discrepancy in valuations may still be an issue for Wah Nam.

"There are lot of factors that come into play in these things, and not just the opinion of one group in the past. We really can’t comment on an independent process, but [that] is one of the important factors they’re going to take into consideration," he said.

But Mr Beckwith said the prospect of retaining an interest in the project through a Wah Nam stake was a key factor in persuading Brockman’s independent directors to recommend the bid, and the company is confident of winning shareholder acceptance of the renewed offer.

"This is a recommended offer… and if it’s successful we think that Brockman shareholders will get out of it that they can crystallise some of the value in their investment now by taking cash, but importantly they’ll be able to participate in the future of the project upside," he said.

Mr Beckwith said the full takeover of Brockman should also deliver Wah Nam shareholders some capital return from their shares, as the market will value the asset rather than their holding in the Australian company.

He also pointed to Wah Nam’s ability to quickly raise the additional capital to fund the cash component of the deal as a factor in a potential revaluation.

Wah Nam has been widely derided as little more than a "Hong Kong limousine company" since making its initial offer for Brockman and Ferraus last year, but Mr Beckwith said the quick fire capital raising points to the company’s "acknowledged expertise" in international capital markets.

"Wah Nam is an investment company that raises money as it’s required, rather than keep a lot of money sitting around idly in the bank.

"It’s had to raise effectively $104 million for the cash portion of this bid, and there’s not a lot of limousine companies that can do that, so it’s obviously wide of the mark to characterise it as such. It’s an investment company that’s supported and funded by some major shareholders who in their own right are highly successful in other businesses and can speak for a lot cash between them,” Mr Beckwith said.

The major portion of the capital raising, around $64 million, is underpinned by an investment by existing 6 per cent shareholder Ocean Line, a shipping company run by Hong Kong businessman Kwai Sze Hoi.

Disclosures to the Hong Kong exchange show he has also been a significant shareholder of REORIENT Group, which is helping organise a placement of $10 million worth of Wah Nam shares to complete the raising.

Wah Nam shares were up 0.6c to 6.5c on its return to trading this morning, and Brockman shares were up 5c to $2.31 at 0826 AWST.