Copper Price Looking Good, page-83

It looks like Harmony Gold is the suitor. AFR Street Talk 2 hours ago:


Offshore bidder comes calling for Mac Copper; eyes on Harmony Gold

An offshore suitor is seeking to end Mac Copper Limited’s life on the ASX boards just 15 months after its arrival, with fingers pointing at South African miner Harmony Gold.

Sources said Mac, capitalised at $1.3 billion on the ASX, has fielded an approach from an overseas listed miner, with the deal expected to be announced after market close on Tuesday. They added South African miner Harmony Gold, listed in Johannesburg and New York, was the most likely suitor.

Harmony has traditionally leaned on JPMorgan, and in December 2022 acquired the Eva copper mine, a development-stage asset, in Queensland from Copper Mountain Mining for about $350 million.It had $US592 million cash ($911 million) on its balance sheet at March end, and said it wants to establish Harmony as an “international gold and copper producer”. The mooted bid for Mac Copper comes as ASX-listed juniors Xanadu Mines and New World Resources have fielded bids in the past month.

Mac, better known by its former name Metals Acquisition Corporation, capitalised on the craze for “blank-cheque” listed companies called SPACs to win the auction for Swiss mining juggernaut Glencore’s CSA copper mine near NSW’s Cobar in early 2022. The SPAC, initially listed in the US backed by several high-power mining executives including Nev Power and Bill Beament, faced a long battle to line up the financing and close the deal.

However, its ASX listing – amid the IPO market’s never-ending winter – was well received. Investors backed CEO Mick McMullen’s pitch of investing in a pure-play copper miner with aggressive growth ambitions, at a time when energy transition would boost demand and bigger miners like BHP had picked off other listed copper exposures like Oz Minerals.

Mac is receiving M&A interest at a time when it has fallen from its IPO price of $17 per CDI to $15.51 at Monday’s close. It refinanced its debt in the March quarter, saying the average weighted cost of debt had fallen by about 30 per cent and would save about $US123 million to December 2026.McMullen has also told shareholders to expect copper production to grow by circa 23 per cent to cross 50,000 tonnes a year by 2026.

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Well, MAC would have been offered around before accepting Harmony's bid. SFR must have said no.

Ash