I have big news for you this morning: Ghost Mail and InceConnect are merging! I've alluded to major changes on the horizon in the past few editions of Ghost Mail, my weekly publication that goes out every Tuesday.
There's a great new website coming which will host the daily market updates you currently get in InceConnect, as well as the types of articles that have formed the backbone of Ghost Mail. This gives me a single platform to share my unique combination of market and investment insights, along with other pieces on strategic thinking and corporate strategies.
The team at Ince fully believes in my vision and I will forever be grateful to them for that. The InceConnect brand will move into the background going forward, with the Ghost Mail brand increasing its distribution by 20x through this change. Thi s is my shot at delivering my dream at scale: an investment insights platform that makes the markets understandable, accessible and fun!
Importantly, the new platform will remain free to read. Ghost Mail and InceConnect have always been free and we aren't changing that. Our strategy is to make it work with brand partners rather than paywalls. If you want your brand to be exposed to a large group of highly engaged and intellectually curious South Africans, then get in touch.
With that excitement out of the way, let's look at the markets.
After a tough week for mining in which Kumba lost over 20% of its value, the latest announcement of a drop in production is from Merafe (3.1% vs. the prior comparative period). The share price dropped by a similar percentage.
In positive mining news for the JSE, there's a new listing coming to the market. No, this isn't a hoax, the re really is a new listing! Southern Palladium Limited will list on the Australian Stock Exchange as its primary listing and the JSE as its secondary listing. The company has been formed with the intention to acquire a 70% interest in a platinum group metals project in Limpopo. There are no other assets or operations in Southern Palladium. The company hopes to raise between AUD17 million and AUD19 million.
Of course, to balance out the news of a new listing, we also have a potential delisting. Silverbridge Holdings jumped 39% higher on the news that an offer from Rox Equity Partners has been increased from R1.525 per share to R2.00 per share. Rox is a private equity investment holding company based in the UK. Java Capital acted as independent expert in the previous offer and determined that it was unfair, but reasonable. The independent board needs to appoint an independent expert to consider the updated offer (which may or may not end up being Java). The circular including that opinion and the recommendation of the independent board will be issued in due course.
EPP shareholders who didn't accept the Redefine offer and ended up with unlisted shares were given another chance to sell their shares to Redefine. This has taken Redefine's stake to 95.45%. There are a small number of shareholders who are holding out on this one. I wish them luck, as unlisted shares are exceptionally difficult to sell to anyone other than the controlling shareholder. Redefine has left the door open, noting that EPP shareholders can approach them at any time to sell their shares. Of course, the price may (and probably will) vary in future.
Investec Property Fund has received unsolicited interest for the Pan-European Logistics platform. The fund and its co-investors have decided to undertake a formal sales process in respect of this platform. Time will tell whether the party th at expressed interest will be the eventual buyer.
AB InBev will suffer a USD1.1 billion impairment charge related to its investment in Russia. The company will forfeit all financial benefit from the operations and is in discussions to sell it to Turkish brewer Anadolu Efes, AB InBev's joint venture partner. The company has introduced Ukrainian beer Chernigivske to multiple markets and is donating all profits to humanitarian efforts in the country. Some companies include feel-good paragraphs in announcements, while others put steps in place to make a genuine impact. You can see for yourself where AB InBev is on that spectrum.
In other ABInBev news, the company has created a new role for a "Chief Growth Officer" which will align marketing, sales, B2B and Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) under a single reporting line. This is interesting, as you don't often see a reporting structure with a single sales function across all products. In mo st companies, the different product lines dictate the reporting structures. This is food for thought for all corporates and entrepreneurs thinking about their own structures.
Kore Potash has released a quarterly update. Substantial disruptions to global fertiliser supply have driven a sharp increase in the potash price, which helps Kore Potash in its efforts to develop its production in the Republic of Congo. The share price is up 36% in 2022 and the company expects to receive a financing proposal for the Kola Project (the major focus) later this year.
The Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) has issued a compliance certificate for the Hulisani scheme of arrangement. All conditions have been met, so the buyout and delisting will now be implemented. An additional payment linked to the GRI put option will be made to scheme participants as soon as practically possible after the scheme.
Mantengu Minin g has been trying to acquire Langpan Mining in a reverse takeover transaction, which effectively uses Mantengu as a listing vehicle for Langpan and its shareholders. Due to various regulatory hurdles, there have been delays. Mantengu has announced an amended deal that includes a partially underwritten rights issue to lessen the dilutionary impact of the deal. If you hold shares in this cash shell, I suggest you read the announcement.
At property development company Acsion, Chairman of the Board Thabani Jali has resigned from his position. A new chairperson will be announced in due course.
Inexplicably, a non-executive director of Italtile has a trading history in the shares that would make most hedge funds blush. Between November and February, there were multiple trades in the shares. Clearance to deal was not obtained and several trades were executed in a closed period. I'm no expert on this element of JSE Listings Requirements but I would hope that there are consequences for the director in question.
Thanks for joining me on this journey. There's so much more to come!
The Finance Ghost
