Yes it was a bit of a head scratcher but Sandeep reckons that the $60m can be better spent somewhere else and he can make a better ROI on it. In the respect that they go the first 70% for $65m then you can see his point, but there was probably a certain amount of calculated risk in not providing GGP with the funds and forcing them to go to the market.
Shaun had obviously anticipated it and had the finance and equity lined up and although the equity dilution is hard to swallow - keeping hold of that 5% of an ever growing resource is undoubtedly better for GGP shareholders over the medium to long term.
Bringing Wyloo in should also create a bit of corporate tension in the region - not a bad thing from a juniors perspective - keeps NCM and the other majors in the region on their toes. Any hope of NCM picking up the remaining 30% for a bargain now seems to have disappeared and we shall see if Sandeep is happy with the 70% as he stated or whether they have other plans.
Fascinating to see it all play out - next week's Denver Gold Forum presentation should be worth a watch.
ATB - Paddy
NCM Price at posting:
$17.10 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
