Australian-based gold mining company Tulla Resources has gone to market in order to raise more than £43 million, with the support of UK law firm Shakespeare Martineau.
The deal, which will see Tulla Resources – a UK plc – floated on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), will raise £43.53 million of new money from investors. As a result, the company will be worth more than £80 million when its depositary interests are re-listed on the ASX.
Working in partnership with Australian firm Herbert Smith Freehills, Shakespeare Martineau advised on the pre-flotation restructuring and the UK aspects of the flotation, having held a long-standing relationship with the mining company as its company secretary since 2005 and UK legal adviser since 2018.
Catherine Moss, partner and corporate finance expert at Shakespeare Martineau said: “The listing of depositary interests in a UK plc on an overseas exchange is always a challenging process as we work with a company through the complexities of differing company law, takeover and corporate governance regimes. Together with Herbert Smith Freehills in Australia and Tulla Resources’ registrars we sought to enable Tulla Resources to do so as cleanly and efficiently as possible.
“At the moment, as it comes out of a period of intermittent lockdown, the Australian economy is starting to move into growth again and, as gold is a strategic asset for economically uncertain times, investing in companies that have access to provable reserves has become highly attractive for investors both in Australia and elsewhere.”
Tulla Resources has 50% interest in the Central Norseman Gold Project – a historical gold mine located near the town of Norseman in the Goldfields of Western Australia that has produced over 5.5Moz of gold since operations began in 1935. The other 50% interest of Central Norseman Gold Project is held by ASX-listed company Pantoro Limited, which acquired that interest from Tulla Resources via a farm-in and joint venture agreement.
Money raised from the flotation will be used to fulfil obligations under its farm-in and joint venture agreement with ASX-listed Pantoro Limited.
The Shakespeare Martineau team for the flotation are Ben Harber, Catherine Moss, Hannah Maxwell and Georgia Keogh.