United Tractors? Huh?
The contest for the $2bn Ravenswood gold mine in Queensland is understood to have narrowed to just two suitors.
The final parties in the competition are believed to be Australian listed gold miner Regis Resources and United Tractors, based in Indonesia.
Speculation in the market is that China’s Chifeng is no longer in the race.
Working as an adviser to United Tractors is Standard Chartered, while Regis is working with Greenhill.
The share price of the ASX-listed Regis, worth $3.3bn, has rallied in recent months as the gold price trades at record prices, although both have retreated in recent days.
The company, led by Jim Beyer, has been eyeing acquisition opportunities in the past year as it positions itself for growth.
Mr Beyer over his career has had a reputation for being disciplined about price, although some shareholders at the time believed he may have overpaid for the Tropicana mine acquisition.
However, over time the deal has proved to be lucrative.
Regis purchased a 30 per cent stake in the Tropicana gold mine from IGO in 2022 for $900m.
If Regis ends up the buyer of Ravenswood, the company would likely need to raise equity.
Mr Beyer will no doubt need to strike the balance between ensuring that the company is well positioned for growth while staying disciplined on price.
The experienced mining executive has been in the top job at Regis for almost seven years, and there’s questions over how long he may want to continue at the helm of the gold miner.
An acquisition of Ravenswood means he likely stays around for some time longer to bed the deal down, but if he’s keen to exit, a M&A transaction would unlikely be on his agenda.
One solution could be a move into the chairman’s seat, replacing James Mactier who has been in the top boardroom position also for seven years.
Final offers for Ravenswood, up for sale by UBS and Azure Capital, are due in about a week.