Capital raisings top $1bn

Western Australian stockbrokers and companies raised nearly $1.1 billion in 104 transactions in the March quarter, with gold deals being a major driver of activity, according to new data compiled for the BNiQ Search Engine.

The total is more than double the $502 million raised by WA companies in the same quarter last year.

The gold sector accounted for nearly a third of the total raisings, with Dacian Gold, Gascoyne Resources, Beadell Resources, Blackham Resources and OreCorp completing substantial raisings.

It wasn’t just the larger gold stocks, with junior explorers like Primary Gold, Middle Island Resources and Kalamazoo Resources also completing raisings.

Collectively, WA gold companies raised about $320 million in the March quarter.

That comes on top of some big raisings in 2016, when the likes of Independence Group, Resolute Mining, Perseus Mining and Gold Road Resources bolstered their coffers.

Perth broking firms Euroz Securities and Hartleys fared best in the March quarter.

Euroz had a lead role on eight transactions across a range of industry sectors, with clients including US-focused Australis Oil & Gas, Africa-focused gold company OreCorp and IT services firm Empired.

It was also joint lead manager and joint underwriter of a $151 million raising by Adelaide-based Cooper Energy, which as a result is included in the BNiQ database.

A total of $325 million was raised in the eight transactions, with $224 million attributed to Euroz.

Hartleys was lead manager on 10 transactions, mainly in the resources sector, including for gold producers Gascoyne Resources and Beadell Resources.

Macquarie Capital was sole lead manager and underwriter on Dacian Gold’s $109.8 million placement and entitlement offer, which was effectively a replacement for a planned $150 million raising that was scrapped in December.

Argonaut worked on six transactions, including as sole lead manager and underwriter of a $52 million raising for bauxite project developer Metro Mining.

Argonaut had a support role on two big transactions, as co-lead manager for Dacian and co-manager for Gascoyne, where it contributed substantial funds.

Among the legal advisers, Steinepreis Paganin was again the most prolific, working on 12 transactions worth $63 million.

Gilbert + Tobin worked on four transactions worth $261 million, while Corrs Chambers Westgarth advised on Dacian’s big raising.

The most active public relations firms in the quarter were FTI Consulting, Citadel-MAGNUS and Cannings Purple.