Toronto-based Arimathaea Resources (TSE) has acquired a 14.74% stake in Mid-East Minerals Ltd. of Western Australia and can increase its interest to 19.9% if the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board approves.
Mid-East’s chief asset is a 76% interest in Metals Exploration Ltd., an Australian company with $2 million in cash and royalty interests in a number of producing nickel mines.
Arimathaea President Charles McAlpine said the deal was brought to him through business associates of Arimathaea’s new Chairman Graham Lacey. A prolific deal maker, Lacey recently injected $195,000 of his own money into Arimathaea, formerly Murgold Resources, and now owns 27% of the company’s 2.3 million issued shares.
Arimathaea will pay 26 Aus. cents a share if the Mid-East deal is approved, bringing the total acquisition cost to US$825,000. But McAlpine said he doesn’t yet know whether the shares will be flipped or whether his company will buy more.
Under Australian laws, Arimathaea would be required to make a formal offer to all shareholders if it bought more than 22% of Mid-East.
News of Lacey’s association with Arimathaea drove the shares to a 52-week high of $2 last month. But they have since slipped back to $1.70.
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