4th Jun 2018 11:32
LONDON (Alliance News) - Emmerson PLC shares jumped Monday after it was readmitted to the London Main Market following the completion of its Moroccan Salts Ltd acquisition.
Emmerson raised GBP6 million through the placing of 200 million shares at 3 pence per share to fund the acquisition.
Shares in Emmerson leapt 56% at 3.50 pence each.
Emmerson now owns 100% of the Khemisset Potash Project in northern Morocco. Khemisset has a "large" potash JORC compliant resource of 311 million tonnes at 10.2% soluble potash with "significant" exploration upside.
The potash development company said it is "delighted" to have "successfully" brought London's newest potash company to the market. It believes there is "record potash demand" and is has "the wheels in motion" to meet its objectives.
In October, Emmerson entered into a binding memorandum of understanding with Moroccan Salts to acquire the company in a reverse takeover.
Emmerson agreed to acquire 100% of the company for GBP10.0 million, paid for through the issue of 333.3 million new shares in Emmerson at an implied price of 3.0 pence per share.
Chief Executive Officer Hayden Locke said: "Now is the perfect time to be developing what we believe is an outstanding potash project. Food reserves are at a 50-year low and as the world's population continues to rapidly grow, potash fertiliser becomes increasingly critical to increase crop yields and improve the quality of plants. It is estimated that by 2050, the world will need to produce 70% more food from ever reducing per capita amounts of arable land, to feed its growing population. Put simply, global food security goals cannot be achieved without the significant use of fertilisers.
"In Khemisset we have a project that ticks all the boxes: a large resource, significant exploration upside, an outstanding location - with Morocco being named as one of the fastest growing potash consuming countries in the world. Coupled with a shallow deposit and excellent local and export infrastructure, we are confident that we have a project which will benefit from low capital and operating costs," Locke added.
"With GBP6 million raised in an oversubscribed placing we have the funds in place to deliver our near-term value drivers and, as a result, anticipate being able to hit the ground running with high impact newsflow post-listing as we move towards the delivery of a Scoping Study by the end of the first quarter in 2019."
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