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Stanhill rejects Salim tie-up in Robust bid

• THE AUSTRALIAN
• JULY 30, 2014 12:00AM

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Matt Chambers

Resources Reporter
Melbourne
HONG Kong fund Stanhill Capital has rejected suggestions it could be acting with Indonesia’s billionaire Salim family in a $61 million bid for Indonesian and Krygyz-focused Robust Resources.
Last week, the Robust board put an announcement to **promotion blocked** saying shareholders should be aware of its substantial securityholders — the Salim-controlled Droxford International, a smaller holder, Parallax Venture partners, and the Eminent Return Fund, which this month sold a 19.9 per cent stake into Stanhill’s bid.
Robust had asked the three shareholders to confirm their voting power under the Corporations Act, the gist of the query being whether they were associated with each other.
Also in the notice was a statement musing on whether some or all of the shareholders could be in cahoots with Stanhill, formerly known as Crosby Capital and no stranger to ASX mining bids, having previously bid for Medusa Mining and Indophil Resources. “It is currently unknown whether these parties are associated with Stanhill, or alternatively, each other,” Robust chairman David King said in the July 24 announcement.
Droxford, Parallax and Eminent have not got back to Robust to confirm that their voting stakes are in fact in line with their ownership and separate from each other.
But a Stanhill spokesman said the fund was acting independently. He declined to comment further, leaving any other statements to a soon to be released bidders statement.
Salim Group head Anthoni Salim is also chairman of Hong Kong fund First Pacific, which has made a joint $1.3 billion bid for Goodman Fielder with Singaporean palm giant Wilmar.
The Robust board is holding back on a recommendation on the 31.5c-per-share cash Stanhill bid until after Stanhill releases its bidder’s statement. But it says it is opportunistic ahead of a new report incorporating positive drill results from its Romang projects in Indonesia.
Yesterday, Robust shares were unchanged at 29c.
Robust this month backed its three Kyrgyz copper-gold projects into Memtum, a company listed on London’s AIM exchange in which it now holds an 87.3 per cent stake. The value of its Memtum stake makes up about 60 per cent of Robust’s ASX market value.
The main assets owned by Robust are now exploration targets on Romang Island about 100km northeast of East Timor.