Deals

Emeco Holdings today sent out a mammoth 811 pages of documentation for its revised restructuring scheme, and buried inside is a breakdown of fees showing that, while its lawyers will get paid more, the company’s financial advisers will take a haircut after the first restructuring scheme fell over.

North Perth-based tech company Scancam has raised $1.2 million from investors as it seeks to expand sales of its anti-fuel theft technology into new markets.

AngloGold Ashanti has made a $6 million investment in Perth-based Orinoco Gold and plans to spend $US9.5 million ($A12.4 million) to farm-in on the company’s gold tenements in Brazil.

Aspiring gold miner Capricorn Metals has secured a $10 million investment from an overseas asset manager to fund ongoing work at its Karlawinda project near Newman.

Perth-based explorer Lithium Australia has lodged a takeover bid for rival lithium-focused Lepidico - in the middle of a Supreme Court battle between the two companies - in an all-scrip deal that values the target at $23.8 million.

Laconia Resources to acquire Kraaipan gold-nickel-copper-PGM project in Botswana for $100,000 in cash and $900,000 in scrip.

Perth-based Primary Gold has tapped investors for $8.5 million to fund ongoing work at its Coolgardie and Mount Bundy projects in the Goldfields.

Perth-based ECO Environmental has expanded its operations to Singapore through the acquisition of field services assets from US company Pentair.

Shares in junior explorer AVZ Minerals have skyrocketed on news the Perth company has struck an agreement to acquire a majority stake in a lithium mine in Africa, and has raised $5 million to fund the deal.

Minerals explorer TNG has finally lodged a prospectus for the demerger of its base metals portfolio into a spin-out company, while Heron Resources and Force Commodities have both progressed their respective demergers.

Perth company SEQTA Software has combined with Melbourne-based Synergetic Management Systems to create Australia’s largest education software business.

Macmahon Holdings has criticised CIMIC Group’s proposed $174 million takeover offer, saying its preliminary view was that it does not represent fair value of the business, and has told its shareholders to take no action.

First Graphite has announced plans to raise $3.52 million from investors through the placement of 32 million shares at 11 cents each.

Construction giant CIMIC Group has proposed to acquire all the shares it doesn’t own in Perth-based Macmahon Holdings, with the deal valuing the target at about $174 million.

Subiaco-based lithium explorer Birimian has terminated a $107.5 million cash offer for its Bougouni project in Mali after the Chinese bidder failed to make a deposit in time.

Shares in Aurora Labs were higher on the announcement of a commercial venture with engineering business WorleyParsons to incorporate its metal 3D printing technology into operations across a number of industries.

Perth-based gold exploration company Huntsman Resources is seeking to list on the ASX with the launch of its prospectus for a $4.5 million initial public offering.

Galaxy Resources has secured a $US40 million ($A53 million) facility with BNP Paribas to square off its existing owings to investment group OCP Asia.

Perth-based mining technology firm MiPlan has been bought by US company Hexagon Mining, six years after it was established by Robert and Louise Daw with backing from three local venture capital investors.

Mineral Resources managing director Chris Ellison has sold down a small portion of his stake in the diversified Perth business, netting $21.6 million from the transaction.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nearly 70 WA-connected companies listed on the ASX in 2016, but current prospects indicate there will be substantially fewer this year.

SPECIAL REPORT: There was a big rise in the number and value of completed capital raisings in WA last year, according to data compiled in the BNiQ Search Engine.

SPECIAL REPORT: Investment bank Gresham Partners and law firm King & Wood Mallesons were the top advisers on mergers and acquisitions in WA in 2016.

Padbury Mining has again attracted regulatory attention, with the company acknowledging it should have notified the ASX when it negotiated potential capital raisings worth $106 million with a Hong Kong-based investor last year.

Ahead of a looming April deadline for a $US212 million convertible bond repayment, uranium miner Paladin Energy has announced a proposal to restructure its balance sheet by converting some debt into equity, extending the maturity date of the remaining amount, and undertaking a $US75 million capital raising.

Recently renamed Carnegie Clean Energy has launched a $5 million capital raising to prepare itself for opportunities that may come up through its joint venture with developer Lendlease.

Perth oil and gas hopeful Po Valley Energy is heading to London, with the company planning to list its Sillaro gas asset in northern Italy on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market in a bid to raise up to $3.7 million.

The tail end of the tech stock listing boom will continue tomorrow when two companies start trading on the ASX, with one completing its IPO nearly three years after it first announced listing plans and the other completing an RTO in a relatively efficient five months.

Lithium exploration at Forrestania, north of Ravensthorpe, will be a priority for Marindi Metals after the company completed a capital raising worth nearly $3.2 million.

US-based transport group Watco Companies is seeking further acquisitions and growth opportunities in Western Australia, after buying a majority shareholding in Intermodal Group and winning a contra

Security services provider Threat Protect Australia is considering a move to acquire assets from east coast player Apollo Security for around $6 million, after tying up an option for its two business units.

The last 10 days of 2016 were a busy period for WA corporate deals, with the Rae family attracting a bumper price for its Gull New Zealand business, Chinese group MMG selling the Golden Grove mine, Diploma Group going into receivership and seven new listings on the ASX.