Media Speculation, page-79

OriginallypostedbyAbuMumtaz

ThisappearedinAdelaide'sINDAILYonlinetoday,Monday4thNov.
Itisare-runofwhatwehavealreadyseenbuthasaresponsefromLCKadded.

LeighCreekEnergyhintsatChinesetakeoverBUSINESSLeighCreekEnergyhasencouragedjournaliststo“drawtheirownconclusions”aboutapotentialChinesetakeoveroftheSouthAustraliancompany,citingthefinalsentenceofanewsstoryonaChinese-languagenewswebsitelastweek.BensionSiebert@Bension1PrintarticleInanemailtoInDailylastweek,LeighCreekEnergyheadofcorporateandinvestorrelationsTonyLawrysuggestedweconsiderthefinallineofa1258-characternews.china.comarticle.Lawryemailedagainthatsameday,apologisingifreporterswereunabletotranslatethestoryintoEnglishandprovidingafullytranslatedcopy,includingthefinallineofthearticle:‘ItisunderstoodthataninvestmentbankinHongKongisconductingapotentialacquisitionofLCKforaChinesecompany.’AdvertisementAskedfordetails,LawryreferredInDailytothecompany’smanagingdirector,PhilStaveley,whosaidhecouldthinkofseveralcompaniesthatmightbeinterestedintakingovertheAustralianStockExchange-listedcompany.Buthewasnotawareofanyformalplans.“Wedon’tknowanyoneofficially(preparingatakeover),”hesaid.“Ifwedid,we’dannounceit.“Youknowrumourandspeculationisrifeatthemoment.”Staveleysaidthatbeingtakenoverwasn’tsomethingthecompany’smanagementnecessarilywanted,butthat“anypubliccompany’sgoingtobepotentiallyatargetatanyonetime”.“Theonlyrealdefence–onlyrealguardagainstthatisgoodmanagement,”hesaid.“Youhopeyouaren’tgoingtobetakenover.”Hesaidhedidnotknowwhythecompanyhadsentthenews.china.comarticletoreporters–butthat“there’salwaysgoingtobetakeoverspeculation”.“Whetherit’srealisanother(thing).”Speculationaside,hesaidthatthecompanyhadattractedsignificantcommercialinterestsincetakingoutadvertisementsintheAustralianFinancialReviewaboutitslow-costfertiliserproductioncapabilities.Advertisement“There’sarangeofpossibilitiesapart…frombuyingLeighCreek(Energy),”hesaid.“We’reindiscussioncurrentlywithpotentialjointventure(partners)toproducethischeapfertiliser.“Thisisgoingtobethecheapestfertiliserintheworld.”Inmid-September,thecompanyannouncedithadsuccessfullycompletedaconceptstudyforaprocesscalledin-situgasification,whichwouldbeusedtocheaplyproduceureafertiliser.“Asaresultofthisannouncementwehavebeenapproachedbyseverallargeinternationalcompaniesinthenitrogenbasedfertilisermarkettodiscussthepossibilityofworkingtogetheronthe(LeighCreekEnergyProject),”thecompany’sOctober31releasetotheASXreads.“LCK(LeighCreekEnergy)continuestomoveforwardonthebasisthatitcanprovidebothpipelinequalitynaturalgasand/orfertiliserproducttothemarket.“ThroughtheChinaEconomicandTradeHerald,ChinahasrecognisedISG(in-situgasification)asaNationalStrategicEmergingindustryforChinaandhasaskedLCKtoassistitwithvariousaspectsofdevelopingtheHydrogeneconomyinChina,whichiswelladvanced.”

* "We don’t know anyone officially (preparing a takeover)”.