Tycoons cross swords over gold miner takeover
AIM-listed Metals Exploration is prepared to launch a hostile takeover for rival Condor Gold, the Mail can reveal.
The showdown involves two of Britain’s best-known tycoons, with property magnate Nick Candy and Jim Mellon – who made his fortune from fund management – locking horns over the listed gold miners.
Last week Metals Exploration agreed to buy Condor for around £90m but, despite this, days later Condor was then thought to have been touting itself to other potential buyers.
This upset the management at Metals Exploration who are now prepared to approach Condor investors directly in order to get the deal over the line.
Candy is the majority shareholder in Metals Exploration with a stake of 38 per cent while Mellon owns 26 per cent of Condor.
The tussle puts at loggerheads two of Britain’s most colourful businessmen.
Clash: Metals Exploration agreed to buy Condor for around £90m but, despite this, days later Condor was then thought to have been touting itself to other potential buyers
Candy made his fortune alongside his brother Christian, redeveloping swathes of west London. Three years ago he was in discussions with Matt Moulding about taking over his beauty and nutrition company THG.
Likewise Mellon is one of Britain’s richest people. His wealth is estimated at £850m and he has been described as Britain’s Warren Buffett.
His money was made in investment in emerging markets, notably Russia.
Metals Exploration operates in the Philippines and its shares have more than doubled in the past year. Condor Gold is smaller and is the owner of the 2.3m-ounce La India Project in Nicaragua.
The showdown is the latest hostile takeover in the City.
Nat Rothschild’s Volex is in the middle of a hostile takeover for TT Electronics while Aviva has said it is prepared to do the same for Direct Line.
Hostile takeovers had become a thing of the past despite being all the rage in the 1980s and 1990s in London when there was more appetite for risk.
One banker told the Mail: ‘It was all booze-fuelled lunches, shoulder pads and testosterone back then. Nobody listened to the lawyers or the public relations department. It looks like the glory days could be back.’
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