Ramaco mines ECM for rare earth minerals project
Ramaco Resources, a metallurgical coal miner, secured an upsized US$200m from an overnight stock sale last week to fund development of a rare earth minerals project.
While the rare earths project had been delayed, Ramaco shares have more than doubled since releasing an economic assessment in early July to close Tuesday’s session at US$23.14.
Joint bookrunners Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs priced 10.7m shares overnight on Tuesday at US$18.75, towards the lower-end of the US$18.50–$19.50 range marketed overnight and a nearly 19% discount to the US$23.14 last sale. The banks upsized the offering from the US$150m fixed sum marketed overnight.
Ramaco late last month cleaned up its balance sheet by raising US$65m from the sale of 8.25% baby bonds (US$25 par, listed) used to redeem 9% of debt maturing last year. The latest equity offering required a sign-off from bank lender KeyBank.
While the base deal is all primary, Yorktown Partners is contributing shares to the greenshoe, potentially paring its 24.7% stake or 11m shares.