Chris Ellison has continued his lithium spending spree, pumping more than $19 million into Wildcat Resources on Thursday as it raised $100 million.
Mineral Resources, backed by the billionaire, pitched into the raising to maintain a 19.94 per cent stake as the white-hot exploration play rattled the tin for funds to advance Tabba Tabba project in Western Australia.
Wildcat sets its sights on $80 million through an institutional placement at 76¢, first reported by The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column on Thursday, but ended up at $100 million.
The additional backing came just days after MinRes tried to vote down the issue of stock to three Wildcat directors. The raising follows the company’s annual meeting in Perth on Monday where shareholders signed off on what was a $28.8 million on-paper windfall for director Alex Hewlett after he made the connection that ultimately led MinRes to emerging as a backer.
The vote granting Mr Hewlett an introduction fee of 30 million shares passed despite analysis of the poll showing MinRes voted against the resolution. MinRes also tried to vote down resolutions on share issues to two other Wildcat directors and abstained from voting on other matters, including the remuneration report.
Mr Hewlett was due an introduction fee for his role in Wildcat acquiring Tabba Tabba via a deal struck in May with James McClements-founded Resource Capital Fund and RCF-controlled Global Advanced Metals. MinRes, chaired by Mr McClements, revealed last week that it had become Wildcat’s biggest shareholder.
Global Advanced finished a remarkable run of lithium-related divestments with the sale of the Tabba Tabba – where it turned about 186 million Wildcat shares issued at a total face value of $6.5 million into almost $160 million in cash within a few weeks.
The cash windfall came with the sale of shares issued in return for handing Tabba Tabba over to Wildcat and subsequently sold to MinRes.
Wildcat did a capital raising at 3.5¢ in May as part of the Tabba Tabba acquisition, but Global Advanced only got its hands on its share package in mid-October after the Foreign Investment Review Board ticked off on a royalty attached to any lithium production.
Perth-headquartered MinRes has taken strategic stakes in a string of WA-based lithium stocks, in some cases alongside Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting. MinRes has a 12.3 per cent in SQM takeover target Azure Minerals, where Hancock has an 18.9 per cent stake.
Wildcat’s market capitalisation was $19 million in May, but the backing from MinRes and excitement around Tabba Tabba exploration work took it to nearly $1 billion on Monday when the price hit 91.5¢. Wildcat’s shares were trading at 85.5¢ on Thursday. Tabba Tabba is close to the Wodgina mine jointly owned by MinRes and New York-listed Albemarle in the Pilbara.
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