Ramelius Resources boss Mark Zeptner says he has moved on from the Westgold-Karora takeover saga but remains unhappy with the way the Takeovers Panel handled the situation.
Ramelius Resources boss Mark Zeptner says he has moved on from the Westgold-Karora takeover saga but remains unhappy with the way the Takeovers Panel handled the situation.
Ramelius was a third-party of sorts to the Westgold deal for Karora completed late last week, after it referred the transaction between the two goldminers to the Takeovers Panel.
That referral revealed Ramelius and Westgold had held discussions of their own late in 2023, and that a standstill clause limiting Ramelius’ ability to act in its own interests had been imposed on the miner until November this year.
It also queried the corporate synergies of the Westgold deal and disputed a clause which required Karora’s consent to release it from the standstill.
The panel opted not to intervene after Westgold tweaked the terms of its agreement with Karora.
Speaking to media on the final day of Diggers & Dealers, Mr Zeptner said he may not have gone down the path of referring the deal if he had his time again.
Mr Zeptner said Ramelius had referred the Westgold-Karora deal in April, but the referral was not made public until the end of May.
A determination was handed down in July, by which stage the deal was in its final stages.
“Ultimately, the process of the Takeovers Panel, and I’ve got to be careful to not be too critical here, [but it] wasn’t timely,” he said.
“The thing about deals is they’ve got a set timeframe, and time kills deals.
“If the panel is not going to be timely, then it’s not going to be effective.
“They took a long time to effectively do not much, which I think is a bit opposite to their charter.”
In relation to Ramelius’ talks with Westgold, Mr Zeptner said many discussions happened behind closed doors in the resources sector and wouldn’t be drawn on specifics.
“We saw some real significant synergies with Westgold, but that opportunity has obviously been and gone, and we move on,” he said.
He doubled down on his skepticism over Westgold and Karora’s mooted corporate synergies of $400 million but insisted Ramelius had moved past the saga.
Spartan, which delivered its presentation back-to-back with Ramelius, is a big part of the miner’s forward focus.
Ramelius took a strategic stake in Spartan late in July and increased it to 18 per cent shortly after. At the time, the company said it had no intention of moving for a takeover.
“We have a seat at the table, if you like, we have eighteen per cent,” Mr Zeptner said.
“Given they’re our neighbour, we’ve watched them grow and they’ve done a fantastic job, we’re very complementary of what they’ve done.
“We’ll just continue to assess and take a value-based approach going forward.”
Spartan recently upgraded the mineral resource for its Dalgaranga project to 2.48 million ounces, with a significant uplift in grade to 4.79 grams per tonne.
Mr Zeptner said the high-grade nature of the deposit offered good synergies with his own company.
“We know how to make good cash flow from [narrow vein, high grade projects] in our own portfolio, so we obviously recognise what those guys have,” he said.
Spartan managing director Simon Lawson confirmed he had “had a coffee” with Mr Zeptner after Ramelius took its stake in the company.
Spartan shares increased around 30c off news of Ramelius’ strategic move, peaking at around $1.30 in July.
The surge prompted suggestions from Mr Lawson that Spartan may have moved beyond the reach of Ramelius. Mr Zeptner refuted those claims in a recent quarterly call.
Spartan shares have since fallen back and are currently trading at $1.07, after dropping five per cent today.
Mr Lawson was cryptic when asked whether he was prepared to fend off potential offers at the current trading price.
“I always like a good chat,” he said.
“I like coffee.
“I’ve been looking at this thing the whole time thinking ‘who doesn’t want high-grade gold in front of processing infrastructure?’.
“It’s very difficult to build things.”
Mr Zeptner confirmed he had a coffee with Mr Lawson but said that was as far as it had gone.
Ramelius shares were down slightly at 1pm, at $1.84.
Spartan shares were 5.5 per cent lower at $1.07.
