You say a 50:50 JV is no cause for happiness (as if a lesser share would?), that PRL won’t be able to meet future funding requirements (paying no regard to what the company might look like at that point), and that nobody (including TE) would want to/be able to acquire PRL because of... what? ...Government approvals?
I disagree entirely with your assessment that TE would cut & run if PRL was taken over, e.g. by FFI/FMG as but one neighbourhood example. The binding agreement today gives surety that was not there yesterday. Yes, there could easily be a pro forma change of control provision in the final agreement that gives either party the right to review participation in the partnership, but that is not going to limit the ability of anyone to launch a bid for PRL if they want to and nor does it mean TE walks.
It’s more valuable for PRL to have a binding JDA and a guaranteed half of a SPV than to have neither or less. Bearing in mind too that TotalEnergies only has a 30% stake in Total Eren and could potentially - although highly unlikely - farm that off at some point if it really wanted to as well. All along David Frances has hinted that PRL may look like or be called something entirely different than what it is today. Imo he’s not signing us up to something that limits M&A: rather, something that makes us more attractive and valuable to a suitor.
(20min delay)