from AFR….Leo Lithium lines up investor meetings amid...

from AFR….


Leo Lithium lines up investor meetings amid Firefinch’s stake saleAnthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika SoodJan 18, 2023 – 9.31pmSaveShareBattery metals hopeful Leo Lithium has asked its broker Euroz Hartleys to get it some face-time with fund managers, while it’s battling shareholder Firefinch shops a sizeable stake in the business.Street Talk Street Talk understands Leo Lithium’s emails are hitting investors’ inboxes while it has two factors at play: a 31 per cent resource upgrade at its Goulamina project in Mali in Africa, and the threat of a wily shareholder’s arrival via Firefinch up-for-sale 17.6 per cent stake.Sources said while it was too early to say how Leo Lithium’s management would use the chats, however it would not be unreasonable to expect a capital raising.After all, it’s pretty standard practice for resources stocks to chase up project updates and roadshows with cash calls. And in Leo Lithium’s case, a raising could also have the nice little side effect of diluting Firefinch’s shareholding, should the company want to defend against a future bid.Firefinch spun-off Leo Lithium last year, hiving off its lithium assets into Leo and retaining its own gold projects. The two outfits’ fate has diverged significantly since.While Leo Lithium is up about 12 per cent since listing with a $538 million market capitalisation, the gold play, Firefinch, hasn’t traded since June.Firefinch kicked off a strategic review in December after it failed to lock in a $90 million recap and pulled the plug on its flagship asset Morila, following a year of production delays, and management and board turnover. It was left a stub of a company with $38 million cash and a 17.6 per cent stake in Leo Lithium