Sirius was for all intents and purposes an exception in the industry. Within the space of 2.5 years it had found the Nova deposit, drilled it out, permitted it and started mining – a record, Bennett claimed, for a project in Western Australia.
This created a “moving target” for potential bidders, a situation which the company was able to exacerbate through injecting cash from an early stage to keep as many drill rigs running as possible leading to constant news flow and opportunities for the share price to react.
Not every company and potential takeover target has the cash or the confidence to “go out on a limb”, as Bennett said, and do this.
This factor, and Bennett and Creasy’s holdings in Sirius, were key to the nickel developer securing the $A1.8 billion ($US1.3 billion) merger deal with Independence Group (IGO) and being able to spin-off another company – S2 Resources – in the process.
While he said it was important the Sirius-Independence deal was a “win-win” for both companies – something with which many analysts have taken issue considering its reverse takeover nature and the weakening of the nickel price since the deal was announced – it was quite clear Bennett, Creasy and Sirius had come out on top.
And the reason for this? He didn’t say, but he gave enough hints.
“[Shareholders] essentially gained control of IGO, took some money off the table, which was important and got a stake in a new explorer.
“From the IGO side, they got what they really wanted, which was Nova and the team that came with it,” he said.
He kept emphasising the point that a deal needed to be suitable for shareholders and for the “people” involved. “Essentially, nearly everyone was left with a job at the end of a day.”
For Creasy, a 35% shareholder at the time, and Bennett, who had his own stake in the company, a good deal for shareholders and the Sirius people was a good deal for them.
From this example, the way to get the best deal is to ensure both the board and executives are negotiating as both directors and shareholders.
Skin in the game could lead to more cream on top.
