Investor Relations clients knock it out of the park in 2017

Purple has wrapped up a busy 2017 with foundations in place for another solid year ahead, content in the knowledge that many clients saw sizeable gains in their market value.

Purple’s IR clients recorded an average market capitalisation gain of 69 per cent over the 12 months to December 20, with some of companies more than doubling or trebling their value during the year.

Over the course of 2017 we have completed $1.1bn in deals and a have strong pipeline for 2018.

One of our top performers for the year was Australian Mines (ASX: AUZ), which in November cashed in on soaring investor interest to raise $20 million to fund ongoing development of its Sconi cobalt-nickel-scandium project in Queensland.

Once the market took a closer look at the company’s growth plans, Australian Mines’ shares began surging from around 1.5¢ to more than 15¢ before settling in the 10¢ range in the lead-up to Christmas. That boosted the company’s market cap by 1936 per cent over 2017, from $11.8 million at the start of the year to $241 million.

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Other noteworthy gains were achieved by gold hopeful Great Western Exploration (ASX: GTE; up 505 per cent), silica play Ventnor Resources (ASX: VRX; up 181 per cent), diversified national mining and civil contractor NRW Holdings (ASX: NWH; up 141 per cent) and copper producer Aeris Resources (ASX: AIS; up 140 per cent) who all cracked triple-digit gains.

On the M&A front, Purple advised on more than $1.1 billion of corporate transactions over the course of 2017. The tally stretched across 17 M&A deals including the joint venture tie-up between Kidman Resources (ASX: KDR) and SQM over the Mt Holland integrated lithium operation, Eastern Field Development’s $178 million cash takeover for Finders Resources (ASX: FND) and CERCG Australia’s $463 million cash offer for AWE (ASX: AWE).

The equity capital markets picked up in the second half of 2017, with Purple clients raising $127.6 million in the December quarter alone to take the full-year tally to $287.5 million.

This included Base Resources’ (ASX: BSE) $100 million capital raising this month to fund the acquisition of the Toliara mineral sands project in Madagascar, and a $25 million raising by NRW in August to help pay for its Golding purchase in Queensland.

“It has been a busy year for us at Purple and the results speak for themselves with the growth of our clients in their markets,” Purple managing director Warrick Hazeldine said.

“The size and calibre of the M&A and ECM transactions we have assisted with is a testament to our ability to deliver value to our clients to help them succeed. It is for this reason that we expanded our workforce during the year and moved our base of operations from West Perth into the heart of the CBD.

“We look forward to another strong and successful year for our clients.”

As more signs emerge to signal a pick-up in activity in the WA economy, Purple enters 2018 with a healthy pipeline of work and a solid plan to continue our growth as Western Australia’s leading investor relations firm.

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