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The Oreninc Index remained frozen at the bottom for the week ending August 13, 2015. Total dollars announced dropped to 41.3m, a two-week low. One brokered financing was announced for 0.3m, a four-week low; no bought deals were announced for the eighth straight week.
The top deal-making news of the week were reports that Anglo American plc (LON:AAL) was on the verge of selling two of their Chilean copper assets to an unnamed British fund for somewhere between $500m-$1bn. Gold had a stellar week, reaching a three-week high on the back of Chinese currency concerns. Those same concerns did not seem to affect iron ore negatively, as it stayed mostly flat for the week, though that may have been somewhat offset by concerns of iron ore shipments out of China’s Tianjin port, which suffered an explosion that affected operations on Wednesday.
As we move closer to Labor Day, the low index numbers are starting to become more and more of a concern for what it could mean for fall performance.
The Oreninc Index bottomed out for the holiday shortened week ending August 6, 2015. Total dollars announced jumped to $53m, a five-week high. Two brokered financings were announced for $0.8m, a two-week high; No bought deals were announced for the seventh straight week.
The largest deal of the week was OceanaGold’s (TSX:OGC) agreement to acquire Romarco Minerals Inc (TSX:R) for $856m in stock. OceanaGold will own 51% of the resulting company, with the remaining 49% being controlled by Romarco. Gold stayed mostly flat throughout the week, while iron ore had another positive performance.
Although this week's numbers were rough, the five-week moving average, which has hit its lowest point YTD, is potentially a greater concern. Let’s see if things can pick up, particularly with regards to the number of deals announced, as we head into a full week.
The Oreninc Index stayed low for the week ending July 3, 2015. Total dollars announced fell to $29.3m, an 18-week low. One brokered financing was announced for $0.75m, a two-week low; no bought deals were announced for the sixth straight week.
The largest deal of the week was Barrick Gold’s (NYSE:ABX) sale of a 50% stake in their Zaldivar copper mine in Northern Chile to Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) for just over $1bn in cash. Gold remained flat after last week’s steep fall, and iron ore had a surprisingly decent week.
As the summer lull continues, one of the bigger issues, specific to this year’s downturn, is the dramatic decrease in the number of announced and completed bought deals; with this being the sixth straight week of no bought deals announced. While a decline in broker activity during the summer is not unusual, the decline in bought deals completed this year is. It will be interesting to see if this is a summer-only shift that picks back up in the fall.
The Oreninc Index remained in a funk for the week ending July 23, 2015. Total dollars announced jumped to $45.4m, a two-week high. Three brokered financings were announced for $4.6m, a three-week high; no bought deals were announced for the fifth straight week.
Deal-making was mostly quiet; Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) announced its agreement with New Gold Inc. (NASDAQ:NGD) to acquire a percentage of the gold and silver production from New Gold’s Rainy River project for $175m. Gold fell even further into its five-year low during the week, before recovering slightly. Iron ore also had a down week.
The summer funk appears to be in full swing and this season seems particularly bleak considering the fall in commodity prices and chinese equities. While this may be a particularly bad year, it is important to remember that this summer lull is an unsurprising trend in the annual financing cycle.
The Oreninc Index stayed flat, narrowly avoiding a 16-week low for the week ending July 16, 2015. Total dollars announced continued to fall ending at $35.8m, a 16-week low. No brokered deals were announced for the second time in two weeks; no bought deals were announced for the sixth time in eight weeks.
The natural resource market continues to take a beating from all sides. The recent fall in chinese equities has done the industry no favors as metals were sold in order fund margin calls. Additionally, on Friday, gold fell to a five-year low.
At this point, the fundraising markets have pretty well dried up. Hopefully a few companies have raised enough for summer programs and will have exciting results come fall.
The Oreninc Index dropped to a 15-week low for the week ending July 9, 2015. Total dollars announced fell to $41.8m, an 11-week low. No brokered deals were announced for the first time in 26 weeks; No bought deals were announced for the fifth time in seven weeks.
The most notable deal of the week was the announcement that Fission Uranium Corp. (TSX:FCU) and Denison Mines Corp. (TSX:DML) would merge to create a new company called Denison Energy Corp. worth around $900m. Gold stayed down for the week, falling slightly. Iron ore had an up and down week, but ended higher on news that the Chinese government would take regulatory measures to attempt to stymie the fall of Chinese markets.
While the spring months can be looked back on as a relatively positive financing season, we have clearly entered the the summer lull now that we have fully entered July.
The Oreninc Index stayed afloat during the holiday-shortened week ending July 2, 2015. Total dollars increased to $110.4m, a four-week high. Two brokered financings were announced for $30.9m, a two-week high; no bought deal financings were announced for the fourth time in six weeks.
The main deal-making news of the week included reports of “serious talks” between X2 Resources and Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RIO) regarding X2’s interest to acquire some of Rio’s Australian coal assets. The deal, said to still be in the early stages, would be worth multiple billions of dollars. Gold was down on the week, reaching the lowest level seen since March. Iron ore and copper were also down for the week.
The strong financing numbers were a welcomed surprise considering the holiday-shortened week.
The Oreninc Index fell to a nine-week low for the week ending June 25, 2015. Total dollars dropped $85.4m, a two-week low. One brokered financing was announced for $1m, a 24-week low; no bought deals were announced for the third time in five weeks.
The largest deal for the week was Glencore Xstrata’s (LON:GLEN) sale of their Cosmos Nickel Complex to Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) for $23.3m. Gold came back down for the week, declining well below $1,200 an ounce. Iron ore recovered and increased marginally.
It appears that the yearly slowdown that the official start of summer brings may finally be upon us.