Raisama hires chief, ponders a public float 26th June 2009, 6:00 WST
Raisama Resources, the privately held uranium player founded by Perth explorer Chris Reindler and investment banker Matthew Howison, has appointed industry veteran David Berrie to the top job and is eyeing a public float.
The former Fusion Resources boss, who oversaw its friendly takeover by Paladin Energy, has started as chief executive at the recently formed Raisama and bought a stake in the group.
The move comes as Raisama considers a listing within the next 12 months, mainly on the back of its WA uranium assets. They include the Sunday Creek deposit, adjacent to the Kintyre uranium project picked up by Cameco and Mitsubishi for $US500 million ($625.4 million) last year.
Founded in February 08 amid expectations of a new uranium boom, Raisama is backed by a string of high net-worth industry figures.
They include Mr Howison, who also founded Sydney-based merchant bank Emerald Partners, former Max Resources director Mike Langoulant and Mr Reindler, who explored in WA for nearly 40 years.
Raisama’s backers are understood to have pumped close to $1 million into the company already, with commitments for another $5 millionplus for exploration.
Mr Howison, a director, said a public listing might be on the cards but Raisama was in no hurry.
“The company is well funded at present but we are looking at a number of capital raising options, such as a listing. And we have already been approached by several brokers,” he told The West Australian.
Mr Berrie’s addition to the board will boost its uranium credentials.
As well as heading up Fusion, Mr Berrie was a former corporate director at Summit Resources, also picked up by Paladin in 2007. He had 18 years with WMC and BHP Billiton.
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