The Market Online - At The Bell

Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights

Adriatic Metals (ADT) this week proposed a US$244.5 million (A$330 million) finance package to construct its Vares silver and zinc project in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The funding includes a US$102 million (A$137.5 million) equity raise, incorporating a conditional equity subscription by Orion Resource Partners for US$50 million (A$67.7 million).

Adriatic has also signed a term sheet with Orion for a US$142.5 million (A$192 million) debt financing package.

MD and CEO Paul Cronin said Adriatic had strived to move at pace through the project development phases.

“The largest contributor was Orion Resource Partners. They’ve provided both debt and equity,” he said.

“In addition to that, we’ve had a number of funds globally in Australia, London, Europe, US, Hong Kong and Singapore all contribute to the equity raise,” Mr Cronin said.

Adriatic also announced this week that Sandfire Resources (SFR) had sold down its $97 million holding in the company to focus on its newly-acquired MATSA copper complex.

Mr Cronin sold down $8.4 million of his own holding.

Since the news, Adriatic Metals’ share price plunged more than 50 cents and was trading around $2.80 today.

“We’ve come out of the trading halt, the share price was $3.30 — the issue price was $2.80,” Mr Cronin said.

“I probably didn’t expect it to fall quite as much as it did, but I did expect a substantial fall because you have just issued new equity at a discount.”

To view the full interview on this website, look for Adriatic Metals via the search tab.

Meanwhile, online beverage supplier Digital Wine Ventures (DW8) today announced the acquisition of business-to-business (B2B) beverage marketplace Kaddy Australia in a $34 million deal, including $6.75 million in cash.

DW8 is raising $14.75 million, most of which has been committed via a placement and $2 million through a proposed share purchase plan (SPP).

CEO Dean Taylor said it represented the acquisition of a key competitor.

“We recognised that if we brought the two teams together we would have an amazing, highly talented group of executives, who really have the opportunity to own this space,” Mr Taylor said.

The full interview with Mr Taylor will be uploaded early next week. Digital Wine Ventures’ SPP opens soon and shares will be issued at 5.6 cents.

The company’s market cap is approaching $118 million and share trade opened at 6 cents today.

The Deal Room also looked at raisings by a couple of uranium players this week.

Aura Energy (AEE) secured $10 million in funding for its Sahara Desert project thanks to an offtake financing agreement with London-based commodities firm Curzon.

And while Alligator Energy (AGE) raised $11 million in August, now, just two months on, it’s raised another $11 million through a placement to develop uranium projects in South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Retail shareholders will be offered loyalty options at 4.5 cents, which CEO Greg Hall says will raise another $7-8 million.

“We’ve taken the opportunity — with the very big ramp-up of the spot price of uranium which has essentially put our volume-weighted price up two and a half times — to pick up some additional funds to really advance our Samphire project, in particular, in South Australia, but also (advance) the exploration in the Northern Territory and South Australia,” he said.

“The advantage is we’ve brought in more institutions, we’ve got the cash to take our projects further, and, on top of that, we’re offering a loyalty option to our retail shareholders, which we haven’t done for some time.”

Alligator Energy has a market cap above $180 million and share trade opened at 7.4 cents today.

The Deal room also explored raising by two nickel companies — Metal Hawk (MHK) and Adavale Resources (ADD) this week, along with science-based skincare and pain patches company Wellfully (WFL).

For more information about capital raising, just search for your companies of interest on this site.

More From The Market Online
Unith (ASX:UNT) - CEO, Idan Schmorak

Unith (ASX:UNT) to tap investors for fresh funds

Artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Unith (ASX:UNT) has called a trading halt in order to tap investors…
The Market Online Video

ASX trade starts Monday: Battery Age Minerals (ASX:BM8) targets rapid lithium exploration in Canada

Battery Age Minerals is due to start trading on the ASX on Monday, under the ticker…