As an STX holder i agree we should be focusing on the Cooper basin at this point and have stated numerous times I'm not entirely sold on the acquisition.....thus far. IMO, BPT's tenements sit on trend with the Waitsia field and UIL's are just a little far to the east to warrant purchasing. However, they clearly are very upbeat about the data their inhouse geos have reprocessed over the West Erragulla prospect and have recieved "external validation from other Perth Basin operators". While it's still a bit of a punt in comparison to the now heavily derisked Cooper basin project, it does present significant upside should West Erragulla prove their data modelling is correct.
Strike is in a far better position to fund exploration and development than UIL will ever be. Strike just completed a $13mill placement with an SPP for a further $5mill.....more than double UIL's market cap of a month ago, so they are well funded and positioned going forward. They have a strong working relationship and contracts in place with Halliburton going forward, who are the top of the apex in terms of professionalism and technical ability, rivaled only by Schlumberger globally.
To be honest I'm of the opinion that UIL holders have the most to gain out of this proposed merger. With a market cap of $10mill and $1mill in the bank (prior to recent sp action) UIL simply weren't in a position to raise funds required to pursue any significant exploration. With an offer of 0.485 STX shares per UIL share it has not only increased per share value threefold over the last month, but also gives exposure to the current heavily derisked (and possibly very large) Jaws-1 and soon to be drilled "Waitsia lookalike" in the Perth Basin. UIL holders now get the chance to be involved in a much larger and diversified company, with near term catalysts with major upside.
I'm not just saying this as an STX holder, I've purchased a reasonable size holding in UIL over the last few days also, as after some consideration, i saw a fair amount of upside for both companies going forward. Currently UIL shares are trading below the proposed exchange ratio and, if anything, should be trading at a premium, however I'd say this is due to stale holders happy to get out on the recent upswing and/or not really understanding the current situation. Worst case scenario, from a value perspective, is each UIL share converts to 0.485 of an STX share (for every $1,000 of UIL you recieve $1,094 worth of STX based on yesterdays trading.....if UIL continues to be sold and STX moves higher, this adds further value). Best case scenario, UIL receives a higher offer (albeit unlikely in my opinion, as there was no interest during the Waitsia action). Anyway, that's my theory/opinion on why UIL is currently being sold at unders and should very well be trading at or above the 0.485 conversion ratio, until that shifts I'll continue to accumulate what i can. Without another offer and subsequent bidding auction, i see the current proposal going through and being a win/win for both companies and holders, the alternative for UIL is a return to the SP levels pre announcement with very little funding/exploration on the horizon.
The MD of Strike is someone you should get to know, I'm of the opinion there is no one comparable in this market segment, shows maturity and integrity beyond his years and well beyond that of which we are used to witnessing in this sector. Extremely focussed, driven and most of all communicates with shareholders openly and honestly......i cannot tell you enough how highly i regard him.
Below are two important pieces worth a look/listen.
