OYM in the Australian Press
[From article by Barry FitzGerald, The Age(Melbourne/Australia),
27 November 2006]
BEING the first mover into previously off limits mineralised terrains in communist states can have its rewards. Oxiana will tell you that after reaping the rewards of its trail-blazing entry into Laos.
The same mineral potential lies across the border in neighbouring Vietnam but it has been a lot slower to attract the sort of foreign capital and expertise needed to kick-start what could become a major industry.
Aussie juniors that have been sniffing around Vietnam in the past couple of years have generally reported extreme frustration with the bureaucratic process of securing title. But they also report a growing Vietnamese interest in securing the sort of mineral investment that Laos and its other neighbours (Thailand, Cambodia and China) have been securing.
There is limited Vietnamese exposure among Aussie juniors. It is about to change with today's announcement to the market that Canadian-listed Olympus Pacific Minerals is to make an agreed scrip takeover bid for locally listed Zedex Minerals, creating a $120 million dual-listed group focused primarily on Vietnam.
Zedex only listed in May. It owns 16.4 per cent of Olympus, which in turn owns 80 per cent of the Bong Mieu gold project in Vietnam, over which Zedex holds a 2 per cent gross production royalty.
The off-market offer from Olympus will be one Olympus share and 0.25 of contingent right (exercisable at C90¢ a share) for every three Zedex shares. Olympus has a lock-up agreement covering 37 per cent of Zedex shares, including those associated with the Seton family. Zedex has not exactly been a star performer since listing. The thinly traded stock posted a last sale of 18¢ a share. So there is a premium in the offer. But the real kicker will be the premium the Canadian market will put on the enlarged group compared with the more sedate valuations the Australian market offers for frontier explorers.