Murchison United Nl Share Discussion Threads

[tibrahim] 02/8/2002 16:06

I was already 2.5k down so thought what the heck, something has to happen that is good for them. I always look at being the optimist at times like this. You can never keep a good dog down!! I'm not barking up the wrong tree!!

[morrisminor] 02/8/2002 15:51

tibrahim
At least topping up at this level you won't lose much. As far as the strategy goes there is nothing to adjust as there now obviously isn't one.

[foofighter100] 02/8/2002 15:42

I bought these shares two years ago because Atherly said he had plans to 'Quadruple' the size of the company. I must have missed the bit in the speach about the share price falling 95%, whoops, silly me.

The most annoying thing about this whole fiasco is that I personally have not only lost a fortune on my investment but have spent hours upon hours reading articles doing reserach reading bulletin boards like this one, and after two years having MUU at the back of my mind the whole bloody deal falls through.

I wonder how long it takes for us to start discussing Los Frailes or whatever it was called. Thinking about it, I think we all already have been talking about another type of los haven't we.

[tibrahim] 02/8/2002 14:16

I just topped up, as you know they could pickup the pieces again and adjust their strategy.

[sharestriker] 02/8/2002 08:42

RNS Number:4770Z
AIM
02 August 2002



NOTICE

(276)

02/08/2002 09:00 AM

RESTORATION OF TRADING ON AIM

MURCHISON UNITED NL

At the request of the company the trading on AIM for the under-mentioned
securities was temporarily suspended. The suspension is lifted from 02/08/2002
09:00 AM.

[morrisminor] 02/8/2002 08:12

JDA

I agree with you but I suspect that it will probably be more like many months rather than weeks .Remember , the last time the quote was suspended for 8 months when there was at least a deal in progress. This time round Murchison is nothing more than a rudderless shell desperately looking for some direction to take which is hardly conducive to the AIM listing authority approving an early requote. In foofighter speak 360 days to go then it is 'goodnight vienna'.

[jda] 01/8/2002 21:32

Personally I think it is optomistic if Murchison believe the share suspension will be lifted this week-I think it could be several weeks, not that them coming back on the market is going to do much for the share price until the future is clearer.

[jda] 01/8/2002 21:32

Personally I think it is optomistic if Murchison believe the share suspension will be lifted this week-I think it could be several weeks, not that them coming back on the market is going to do much for the share price until the future is clearer.

[rambutan2] 01/8/2002 17:48

We all should have known that you should never trust a politician, and that politics and business dont mix etc etc etc. Our gov no different really, look what they did to Railtrack. I think that for whatever reason (but most likely something to do with votes, personal gain...) someone in the Port gov suddenly got cold feet. Politicians usually act first and then think about the consequences. And that's it.
Atherley is now just doing the sensible thing, saying sod them and getting on with life. Hopefully he will find something to get us back on the road. As for the Port gov, over the long term they will suffer for their dishonourable actions in some way. I for one will now be boycotting Port booze. The Oz stuff is better in any case!

[morrisminor] 01/8/2002 15:23

How can Atherley state so categorically that the deal is dead so quickly and why ,despite having written confirmation that the necessary approval would be given does he believe that the chances of compensation are slim.He is very quick to castigate the Portuguese Government but surely there must be a very strong reason for them to renege on the deal knowing full well what it would do to their reputation.What was the reason? What will Atherley tell shareholders other than that already announced.The one thing that is all too clear is that

shareholders are now sitting on an investment that is virtually valueless.
Furthermore the comment that the company was able to raise money being construed as a positive factor is absolutely banal as the money raised was deal specific and that deal has now gone.

One cannot help but draw the conclusion that there is a lot more to this fiasco than has been announced and we should be told in far greater detail just what has happened.

[defomaybe] 31/7/2002 23:41

foofighter, try .Register and type in mur for info.

[foofighter100] 31/7/2002 23:33

Does anyone know what has happened to MUU share price in OZ?

[defomaybe] 31/7/2002 14:09

day 730, who will stay in the house? jade becomes head of portuguese government...

[defomaybe] 31/7/2002 14:00

aus. 0.415 dllrs approx. 14 1/2 pence

[skipster] 30/7/2002 10:19

MiningNews.net – 30th July 2002

What now for Murchison?

IT seems like only yesterday that Murchison United could do no wrong. The share price was soaring towards the $2 mark, and the company was on its way to becoming one of the next generation of high-performance Australian mining stocks.

But, as suddenly as Murchison burst onto the scene it started to fade. What is even more interesting is that the fading is not new. The Murchison star has been in decline for almost two years.

This discovery has taken Dryblower by surprise. He was under the impression that Murchison was on its way to greatness as the owner of a zinc mine in Spain, or was it a copper mine in Portugal?

Whichever grand plan Murchison was pursuing it did so with a blaze of publicity and bold statements from its chief executive, Paul Atherley.

Followers of the company, and the man, were in awe. After all, this was the team which had bought the Renison Bell tin mine in Tasmania, and turned it into a "gold mine" - thanks largely to a bit of brilliant timing on the foreign exchange market.

Whatever the reason for success, Atherley and Murchison were seen as winners, and largely for that reason no-one seriously questioned their next move, the planned acquisition of the Los Frailes zinc mine near Seville in Spain.

This was a big move for a small Australian company. Los Frailes had once been one of Europe's biggest mines - that was until a tailings dam burst creating one of Europe's biggest environmental disasters and the project was sin-binned.

Unconcerned with the history, Atherley said he could make it work. But then another target appeared on the horizon in the form of the Neves Corvo copper mine in Portugal.

Out went Los Frailes, in came the chance to buy a 49% stake in Neves Corvo from Rio Tinto. In April last year the announcement of the potential deal sent Murchison shares soaring to $1.65.

Now, almost 18 months after being selected as the preferred buyer, Murchison says it has been unable to complete the deal. Blame is being largely apportioned to the Portuguese government, which owns 51% of Neves Corvo, and which is yet to agree to the transfer of Rio Tinto's stake in the mine.

Whoever is to blame the shareholders of Murchison have every right to feel just a little annoyed about the way their company has performed over the past few years.

As well as an embarrassing period on the suspended list of London's Alternative Investment Market, Murchison's share price has sunk by almost 75% to around 41.5c, a price which is close to where it was five years ago.

Atherley, as a major shareholder and optionholder in Murchison, is sharing the pain, so the last thing he wants to hear is the sort of caustic comment coming from critics who said he was overly ambitious to have ever considered the Los Frailes deal, and equally unwise to have tried to get into bed with a European government in a copper mine.

However, to use a farmyard expression, Murchison's chickens (or is that chook?) are now coming home to roost.

Consequently, shareholders need to hear a lot more from Atherley and the board of Murchison about what the future holds for their company.

[morrisminor] 30/7/2002 08:07

JDA

Spotted the subtle difference between your two postings.Sadly optimism and stupidity are regular bedfellows that usually end in failure.

[foofighter100] 29/7/2002 22:36

Article taken from Minesite.com:

Date : July 30, 2002

Portugal Acts Like A Third World Country In Reneging On Neves Corvo Deal.


What a shambles! After two whole years Rio Tinto has failed to deliver its side of the bargain with Murchison United which involved the sale of its 49 per cent interest in Somincor, the company operating the Neves Corvo copper mine in Portugal. Apparently the Portuguese government was unable to meet the deadline of July 31 for signing off on the deal which received shareholder approval at General Meeting of Murchison shareholders on 10 July. Not that Rio Tinto could have done much more than it did to make sure the approvals, authorisations and consents of any governmental authority or agency had been obtained.

A week before the Meeting letters were exchanged with EDM, the Portuguese government privatising arm, for assurance that the necessary signatures would be obtained. A positive reply was received and it was signed off by the Secretary of State. Last week, however, the government of Portugal contacted Rio Tinto to say that it had reneged on the deal. Er, sorry, changed its mind. A main board director for Rio Tinto flew to Lisbon , but failed to make the relevant ministers see sense. It makes one wonder whether Portugal is a suitable member of the EU when it behaves like one of the worst of the Third World countries. And right at this moment Minews is stuck for a suitable comparison.

It will take Portugal a long time to retrieve its reputation in the mining world, which is rather sad as it has long claimed to be friendly towards the industry. Avocet Mining, for instance, confirms that the government has always been very helpful towards its Beralt tungsten mine. There was an election not that long ago, however, and new ministers are fighting for territory. It may be that one of them awoke late to the fact that a change of management style at Neves Corvo, where EDM is retaining its 51 per cent interest, could lead to an efficiency drive and possible reductions in the work force. The mining union is way over to the left and could cause considerable embarrassment for the new right wing government if things did not go its way.

Murchison met all its obligations by raising the necessary money, but now finds itself between a rock and a hard place as the placing agreement entered into to raise A$64 million (fully underwritten) to help fund the acquisition has been terminated, which has had the knock-on effect of invalidating the company's AIM prospectus relating to the deal. Going back into history Murchison's shares were suspended on AIM for well over a year as the authorities in London considered the Neves Corvo deal to be a reverse takeover. The Australian authorities took a more pragmatic view and allowed trading to continue, but now the shares are being suspended again as Murchison is back to square one.

The company and its brokers in London and Australia sweated blood to raise the necessary funds, including the a US$35 million non-revolving facility with CIBC Capital Partners, and now the placing agreement entered into by Murchison, Beeson Gregory and Euroz Securities to raise the A$64 million has been terminated in accordance with its terms. This will not be great news for the brokers either as the commission earned on the placing will now have to be returned.

Paul Atherley, Murchison's managing director, must be grinding his teeth as he had also agreed a sale of the company's Renison tin mine to another Australian company Sirocco Resources for A$15 million in shares and cash. This ensured that Murchison's shareholders would have an ongoing interest in Renison through a 15 per cent stake in Sirocco and also get a revenue related royalty payable after the first 12,500 tonnes of tin is produced in the event that the realised tin price exceeds the greater of A$7,000 or US$4,000 per tonne. The A$10 million in cash from this deal was to have been used to close out Murchison's existing currency hedge position where there was a hefty loss at the end of March.

It is not clear at the moment how this deal stands in the present circumstances. The Renison deal certainly cleaned up Murchison's balance sheet, but the pain should not be extreme if it has to be cancelled as the tin price is some way above its low point despite the fall last week and the Aussie dollar is gaining ground against the US currency. But someone has to pay for all the advisory work that these deals entail, whether they succeed or fail, and the Portuguese authorities will have much to answer for.

Murchison is still convinced that the acquisition was a company maker and is unlikely to let the matter rest. This morning Paul Atherley was in talks with Cutfield Freeman, a corporate finance firm specialising in mining whose principals founded Warrior which is now part of Standard Bank. Messrs Cutfield and Freeman know their onions and will be looking for alternative ways to get the show back on the road. This afternoon he visited Rio Tinto's head office in London and Minews would have given much to be a fly on the wall at that meeting. Further details, including Portugal's excuses for its behaviour, should be forthcoming shortly.

[jda] 29/7/2002 21:46

Mining shares are boom or bust.Put them in your drawer not the bin and look again in a few months time-you never know.
Signed Optomistic (or stupid) holder of quite a few shares.

[jda] 29/7/2002 21:45

Mining shares are boom or bust.Put them in your drawer not the bin and look again in a few months time-you never know.
Signed Optomistic holder of quite a few shares.

[feroza] 29/7/2002 15:17

if the Potties are happy with gooing ahead I am quite confident that the deadline per the terms of the fund raising can be tweaked to accommodate the delay. However, the problem isn't with the funding it's with the Potties.

[foofighter100] 29/7/2002 15:09

I'm sorry but surely after two years of working out the deal and spending millions organising the deal someone should really have asked the government if it was ok.
Even if everything is just a bit delayed it will still be ages to organise placing again making me think it will never happen.