Hill Dickinson advises Equatorial Palm Oil plc on Capital Metals Limited acquisition and the admission of the group to trading on AIM

Hill Dickinson’s London Corporate team has recently advised AIM-listed Equatorial Palm Oil plc (renamed Capital Metals plc) (CML) on its reverse takeover acquisition of a 99% interest in BVI company, Capital Metals Limited, together with the readmission of CML’s enlarged share capital to trading on AIM.

Alongside the acquisition and readmission, CML has raised £2 million through an oversubscribed share placing with institutional and other investors.

Capital Metals Limited was incorporated in 2015 to acquire licences prospective for mineral sands in Sri Lanka (Project). The Project has an established JORC resource of 17.2Mt, of which 84% is in the measured and indicated categories, with an average grade of 17.6% total heavy minerals (THM), making it one of the highest-grade deposits in the global peer group. Less than 5% of the Project area has been drilled to date and the JORC Resource is from surface to a depth of three metres. Exploration work has shown continuation beyond three metres and also returned grades in excess of 26% THM. CML expects to be able to upgrade the size of the resource in due course. Additional adjoining exploration licences are also under application. 

Following completion of the acquisition and the placing, CML’s shares were readmitted to trading on 13 January 2021, with the ticker ‘AIM:CMET’ and a market capitalisation on admission of £20.6 million. Further information on CML can be found on its website.

Hill Dickinson corporate senior associate Sam Hudson advised EPO on the transaction, with assistance from associate Amy Grosvenor and paralegals Amelia Chung and Sanne Gerdsen.

Michael Frayne, chief executive officer of Capital Metals plc, commented: “I am delighted with the positive reception this investment proposition received, evidenced by the success of the oversubscribed placing. 

“The Capital Metals Board and I would like to thank Hill Dickinson for their support and assistance in enabling us to complete this transaction. Despite the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic they have been available throughout to navigate us through the transaction, working closely with our other advisers. 

“Capital Metals look forward to working with Sam and the rest of the Hill Dickinson team as we move forward and look to develop the Project during the course of 2021 and beyond”.