Ramelius Resources managing director Mark Zeptner during the 2024 Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum. Credit: Carwyn Monck/Kalgoorlie Miner/Kalgoorlie Miner
Mark Zeptner has taken a swipe at the tardiness of the Takeovers Panel, while more details emerge about his spicy back-and-forth with Spartan Resources chief Simon Lawson.
Mr Zeptner vented his frustration at the pace of a Takeovers Panel application his Ramelius Resources first instigated in April to try and scupper a $2.4 billion tie-up between rival Westgold Resources and Karora Resources.
Among its numerous bugbears with the deal, Ramelius claimed Westgold’s statement of $400 million worth of synergies with Karora was misleading. Ramelius itself had previously been in takeover talks with both Westgold and Karora.
The panel in July waved away Ramelius’ application just weeks before the Westgold-Karora union it was completed.
“The process of the Takeovers Panel, I’ve got to be careful not to be too critical here, wasn’t timely,” Mr Zeptner said on Wednesday at Diggers & Dealers.
“And the one thing about deals, they’ve got a set timeframe, and time kills deals.
“If the panel’s going to be not timely, then it’s not going to be effective. So that took a long time to effectively do not much, which is sort of, I think, a bit opposite to their charter.”
Mr Zeptner said the “very restrictive” process inhibits third-party suitors joining the fray to table a better offer.
“If you burn a lot of time in a deal, then the bird in the hand which is ‘I’ve already got a deal, and I’m nearly at the end of that deal’ becomes very powerful.
“It removes the ability of a target board to say, ‘well I’ve got another proposal that might be better, but I’m not going to take the risk of losing the current one’.”
Spartan Resources boss Simon Lawson spoke directly after Mr Zeptner’s presentation. Spartan Resources managing director and chief executive Simon Lawson during the 2024 Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum. Credit: Carwyn Monck/Kalgoorlie Miner/Kalgoorlie Miner
Ramelius in June snared a 17.94 per cent stake in Spartan, which has fuelled frenzied takeover speculation.
But a month later Mr Lawson told The West Australian that Spartan’s ballooning market value meant Ramelius essentially would likely not have the firepower to mount a takeover bid. Days later on Ramelius’ quarterly call Mr Zeptner fired back.
The duo on Wednesday revealed they had a coffee catch-up in North Perth prior to Mr Lawson’s firepower comments as Ramelius emerged on the Spartan register.
While another café rendezvous is yet to eventuate, any broken bridges have since apparently been mended.
“Mark and I have spoken on it and we’re good,” Mr Lawson said on Wednesday following his own Diggers & Dealers presentation.
“I don’t regret making (my) comment . . . it’s not that I was poking fun at his lack of firepower, we’re quite pricy as an exploration company.”
Spartan’s stock has been hit over the past week — down 15 per cent from $1.26 to $1.07 — amid a broader share market plunge.
Mr Lawson indicated he’s prepared for another round of takeover interest, from Ramelius and others, when asked about the cooling share price.
“I always like a good chat, I like coffee,” he quipped.
“I’ve been looking at this the whole time thinking, ‘who doesn’t want high-grade gold in front of processing infrastructure?’
Mr Zeptner again poured cold water on Spartan takeover speculation.
“We’re very complimentary of what (Spartan) they’ve done, we’ve got a lot of our own internal projects, growth projects, that we’re focused on,” he said.
“I know Simon, and I’ve had a coffee with Simon, that’s about as far as it’s gone.”
(20min delay)