I may have the wrong take on the situation but my thinking is something like this.
1/ Mr Lawton has rubbished his credibility. He constantly over-promises yet under-delivers. Eg, where is the UK listing? Where is the 73c placing. Where was the jorc he promised in May, June, July. He made these quite bold statements in the middle of a takeover - surely misdirected his shareholders into thinking he had options that time has proven he didn't. He also saw nothing wrong in issuing deep in the money options. He wanted one rig on Bullabulling which clearly needs significantly more attention and he wanted to use his shareholder's money to advance the other assets which he himself admits the market values at zero. He failed to follow GGB's lead and go for money when AZX was trading at recent highs. Doesn't strike me as the man to build a $100m dollar mine.
2/ GGB launched a bid to refocus attention on the drilling of bullabulling. They were perhaps ill-advised to do this and yes, fully agree, the result has been a fantastic example of how not to create shareholder value. If rumour is to be believed, Baker Steel encouraged GGB and then performed a U turn for their own reasons.
3/ AZX have about 6 weeks worth of cash and are probably struggling to get funding agreed at more than 35c.
4/ GGB have about $17m left
5/ The heads of agreement state that if any party fails to meet its obligations their % in bulling is diluted
6/ AZX's therefore has limited funding options - strike a deal on terms more favourable to GGB, go to market for significant dilution, hold out for better funding but risk a % dilution of bullabulling.
How much time do AZX spend at the Bullabulling site - they are not based nearby are they? I think a management team independent to AZX and GGB will be the best solution.
I expect that GGB will continue to extend the offer and AZX will continue to struggle to secure funds. Perhaps when Mr Lawton realises that GGB are serious he will strike the deal that needs to be made. The alternatives are what, massive equity dilution, dilution of the bullabulling asset or he ceases trading. Any others?
I think GGB have the vision to deliver the most value from bullabulling but they dont have the credibility. AZX neither have the vision nor the credibility from what i can see. It is therefore time to bring the asset together under a new entity that AZX and GGB own - probably in favour of GGB given AZX have no cash to contribute.
I own GGB
AZX Price at posting:
44.4¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held