Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest in raid on Regis as he looks to boost his gold exposure

Stuart McKinnonThe West Australian

Thu, 30 June 2022 4:40PM

Andrew Forrest is understood to be trying to increase his exposure to gold via a raid on the share register of downtrodden mid-tier miner Regis Resources.

The West Australian understands the mining billionaire’s Wyloo Consolidated Investments has engaged broker Barrenjoey to seek sellers at $1.48 a share, representing a 13.8 per cent premium to Regis’ closing price of $1.30 on Thursday.

Wyloo already holds a 4.9 per cent stake in Regis but is believed to be seeking another 15 per cent under the after-market share raid.

That represents the 19.9 per cent limit a company can acquire in stock before formally declaring a takeover offer.

However it is understood Wyloo has no intention to proceed with a formal change of control transaction.

The $168 million attempted buy order represents the latest in a flurry of investments made by Mr Forrest, which has included stakes in Austal, AACo and Bega Cheese.

It is believed the raid is being conducted on a fill or kill basis whereby no purchases will go ahead unless Wyloo can nab the 15 per cent stake it is seeking.

Shares in Regis, and other gold miners, have been crunched in recent weeks as investors look to cash out of liquid assets amid fears of a global recession and as the gold price plateaus.

Regis hit a seven-year low of $1.285 in intraday trade on Thursday.

Australia's richest man Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest is looking to increase his holdings in the gold sector. The latest attempted buy order of $168 million for a 15% stake of gold miner Regis Resources, to increase his overall holdings to 20%. The raid by Twiggy is a 14% premium on Regis' current sp

The writings on the wall, Twiggy Forrest throwing $168 million on a gold miner is a very calculated move. One of FMG'S & Twiggy's core values is " frugality", so he is one never to waste money for nothing. I've heard that when he flew into one of his mine sites, he took a whole heap of old plastic tubs that was laying around, back to his jet to take home. So the gold sector is getting Twiggy's stamp of approval in these current uncertain market conditions.

And with all the landholdings Twiggy's taking up in the Paterson, basically everything he can get that's adjoining or surrounding AZY tenements and even applying for AZY'S surrendered tenements...if he wants the gold, AZY has it... for a high price for a quality company