The battle for control of Gemfields, a London-listed African miner of emeralds and rubies, took an unexpected turn as China’s Fosun Gold said it could make a possible cash offer for the company, potentially derailing a nil-premium all-share bid by JSE-listed Pallinghurst Resources. Gemfields set up an independent committee to study the Pallinghurst offer of 1.91 of its shares for each one held in Gemfields. The committee said the offer from its 47.09% shareholder was "derisory" because it undervalued the company and sought options to raise its value. Gemfields said Fosun Gold had approached the company and it had "actively engaged" the Chinese company in talks, which had resulted in Fosun proposing a possible offer of 40.85p a share cash for Gemfields, which represented a 15% premium to Tuesday’s closing price and, importantly, a 10.1% premium to the implied Pallinghurst offer of 37.1p. "A cash offer would be preferable, particularly at a premium price as UK investors would not be f...
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