takeover target

WA Business and Mining
Equinox chief vows to recoup Lift stock


27th April 2008, 13:45 WST

Equinox Minerals chief executive Craig Williams has vowed to try to recover $25 million worth of shares caught up in the collapse of Lift Capital.

Mr Williams is the latest WA victim of the collapse after Merrill Lynch sold 4.1 million of 5.2 million shares held by Lift as security against a $7.9 million margin loan taken by the Equinox boss.

In a stock exchange notice in which Equinox alleges Merrill Lynch’s share sale was unauthorised, the West Perth-based group said Mr Williams claimed no margin call was made over the shares and he had offered to repay the full amount owing against the shares.

Mr Williams, who this year scraped into ResourceStocks’ inaugural Australian Rich List with an estimated worth of $30 million, could not be contacted yesterday.

But Equinox’s statement to the Australian Securities Exchange suggested he could follow Paladin Energy management by launching legal action.

Paladin chairman Rick Crabb and company secretary Gillian Swaby are seeking court orders that Merrill Lynch buy back $60 million in Paladin shares it seized and then sold. A threeday hearing is scheduled for June.

Merrill Lynch is understood to be selling $761 million worth of shares seized from Lift to recover a $621 million loan. Earlier this week administrators said they expected a surplus of up to $240 million against creditor claims of about $270 million.

Administrator Tony McGrath, of McGrathNicol, is seeking legal advice on whether the funds will be shared equally between creditors or whether they will be given a chance to regain their stock.

The news comes amid ongoing share price weakness for Equinox that has seen Credit Suisse analysts declare a takeover bid to be only “a matter of time”. Credit Suisse has tipped First Quantum, a merged Oxiana-Zinifex and Xstrata as likely suitors.

Equinox shares are about 29 per cent below their January high. The stock last traded at $4.99.

Although the company has a low profile in Perth it is worth about $2.8 billion and is one of the most heavily traded stocks on the Toronto Stock Exchange, where it is also listed.

Equinox’s flagship asset is its 100 per cent owned Lumwana copper mine in Zambia.