I have always thought the most logical acquirer would be...

I have always thought the most logical acquirer would be Alliance due to the strategic significance of our mines and potential customers. We are on their turf. I can't see Alliance letting another major enter the market. The way to achieve optimum coal prices for Alliance would be to control as much of the Coal as possible. Their strategy has always been to absorb the competition and as we saw during the recent Coal capitulation this strategy has put them in an extraordinarily strong position. These guys continued to pay lumpy dividends to investors while their competitors were filing for bankruptcy.

Best case scenario would be an Alliance bid with a Peabody/Arch bid coming in after to start a bidding war. In this scenario I could see Alliance paying a strategic premium over and above what a 3rd party would be prepared to pay.

I believe if a bid is to come in from Alliance it will come this year. I don't see any strategic advantage for Alliance to wait until we finish development as one would expect the share price to be significantly higher.

I have always felt $1.50 is about right for a takeover price. Mind you the recent CR was larger then I expected. Ultimately though we have the cash in the bank which adds to the enterprise value anyway.

There is no doubt this capital raising shows that Management are happy to take this to production. While I am expecting an Alliance bid - getting these mines into production is a great plan B. Ultimately I believe the same potential share price will be achieved if we go down this route. The advantage of a takeover is you are paid upfront for future growth so money in our pockets sooner.

Regardless we are fully funded for production so whatever the outcome Paringa is on their way to being a profitable coal producer. As a long term holder it is great to see.