3rd last paragraph, please make a bid for PEM, lol
Zinifex may drop Allegiance bid on share trading losses
14/02/2008 - Zinifex Australia Ltd has hinted it may drop its hostile takeover bid for Allegiance Mining NL if it transpires that the target's leveraged speculative share trading losses are worse than it has so far revealed.
Zinifex, which closes its $745 million hostile bid for the nickel miner on February 22, wants to know if such trading has ceased and if all losses - including those that may be realised in future - have been disclosed to the Australian stock exchange (ASX).
The trading was alleged in media reports and appears to be confirmed in Allegiance's December quarter report, which revealed that the company had lost $7.88 million through the trades in the 2007 calendar year.
Zinifex chief executive Andrew Michelmore said in a statement on Wednesday that the lead and zinc miner wanted to know if there were additional losses, real or potential, beyond those already reported to the ASX.
"In the event that Allegiance is facing additional potential losses in the current volatile market or fails to provide adequate disclosure, Zinifex reserves the right to allow its offer for Allegiance shares to lapse," Michelmore said.
"Allegiance is not the only game in town. We have other opportunities we are assessing."
Zinifex says the share trading should have been disclosed in Allegiance's target's statement.
Allegiance said in its December quarter report that $2.44 million was lost from the disposal of trading investments, with a further $5.44 million lost because of a decline in world markets.
Source: AAP NewsWire
PEM Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
