Typical isn't it?
Whenever workmen say they'll be round to fix your boiler between 8am and 6pm... You can bet your bottom dollar what time they'll come.
Graham turned up yesterday evening at 5.59pm on the dot. So I spent all day in five jumpers and a duffle coat when I could have finished my Christmas shopping.
But it's all fine now, the boiler’s fixed and I feel like a normal human being again.
So back to business...
A week or so ago I brought to your attention a takeover rumour involving Japan Tobacco...
Well they've finally agreed to buy Gallaher for £7.5bn, representing the largest acquisition ever by a Japanese company overseas.
They offered £11.40 per share, which represents a 16% premium to the 979p share price the day before Gallaher had announced it had received a bid approach on 6 December.
This highlights the upside nicely for the lucky investors who managed to get in at the right time.
Oh and that reminds me... there's been no further news on the mining trio (Celtic Resources, Aurum Mining and Eureka). But I shall keep you posted.
For now and still in-keeping with the Japanese theme but with a touch of Christmas sparkle at the same time, is Jubilee Platinum...
The small company searching for platinum, nickel and copper in South Africa and Madagascar has just announced that Japanese firm Mitsubishi are going to invest a whopping $16m stake for a strategic stake in Jubilee’s South African holding company Windsor Platinum.
They've agreed to issue these as convertible loan notes with Mitsubishi, which are convertible into Windsor shares.
And it comes at a good time too...
Exploration for platinum in South Africa’s Bushveld complex has kicked off. The complex has a geological system unmatched worldwide and actually produces 80% of the world’s platinum.
Their prime asset is the Tjate project, where they have recently purchased an extra 13% stake, taking their total holding to 48%. They have the option to increase the stake by a further 15%, should they wish to.
But the important question to ask is: Why are Mitsubishi so interested all of a sudden?
Time will tell... there's obviously a lot of money to be made in the sector.
So, the South African side of things is looking very interesting. On the flip side things in Madagascar aren’t running quite so smoothly...
There was a newspaper report in mid-November alleging a possible coup over there. Jubilee denied this at the time stating that “business is as normal” and that none of their mining activities had been disrupted.
They would say that though, wouldn't they?
Yes... especially when Jubilee is seeking to capitalise on the vast untapped mineral wealth in Madagascar where it is developing three potentially world-class mines.
They are in a great position as forerunners in the country, which is also of great interest to the majors - so long as a coup doesn't happen anyway!
So if Jubilee, for example, were to discover something in Madagascar - we could well see them taken over by a much larger company.
One of the things I do really admire about Jubilee is the fact that they are a great believer in the role of foreign direct investment as a key form of social development in third world African countries.
It’s nice to see a company considering the welfare of locals, as well as protecting their own interests.
That's all today,
Melissa Carroll
for The Penny Sleuth
