It appears to me that this was an off-market block trade, looking at MZ's previous 604 notice Post #:58976903 dated 19/1/2022, they specifically state under "3. Changes in relevant interests" that there were 4 separate on market purchases between 13-18/1/2022 for a total of 28,745,586 shares for A$6.998m,(approx. 24.3 cps). Contrast this with the latest 604 notice - no separate purchases detailed and no comment as to whether the trade was on or off market.
As the LB/OZ/MZ putsch still appears to be on it makes no sense that they would be reducing their voting power on the eve of the general meeting they initiated, so why would they do it? Possibly to reduce MZ's holding in IMA to below 20% in order to avoid scrutiny from Australian regulators? Only LB/OZ/MZ knows the details but in all likelihood they have offloaded the shares to an unrelated but 'friendly' party who will be voting for their resolutions. IMO flagrant attempts such as this to avoid regulator scrutiny are likely to be counterproductive, particularly when it looks like the control of an Australian based, majority Australian owned ASX listed company appears to be heading to the PRC.
FYI, I emailed Amy Pepper from Clarity Communications regarding nominee director Ran Xu's relationship to LB Group President and Chairman Gang Xu, and she confirmed that they are indeed related. I also requested details of Ran Xu qualifications and specific experience in mineral sands mining industry that might make her a suitable candidate for a board position at IMA, and apart from generalities such as "Ms Xu has many years of experience in the global titanium pigment and titanium feedstock industries" and "Her extensive international market understanding and titanium and zirconium mining industry experience position her as a logical representative of Murray Zircon on the Image Resources Board", there were no specific details of qualifications or experience given to support these assertions. On the basis of this information I think it would be reasonable to assume that Ran Xu's nominated position on the board of IMA would be as a alternate director for Gang Xu.
