Has Tony O’Reilly Jnr created a false market in Providence Resources?
A pensive looking ToR Jnr
Regular readers of our blog will be aware that my own confidence in Providence Resources CEO Tony O’Reilly Jnr’s ability to lead his long, long suffering shareholders into the sunny uplands of the now fabled Barryroe farmout out is now non-existent.
Following on from our piece here in which we highlighted the overt statement by “Junior” that a Barryroe farm in would be concluded by the end of December 16, we note that not only has the year turned but we are now well into the first half of February. Speculation in many quarters is that the company must have a reason for not providing a year end update at this point with some believing the company has been approached again for an outright takeover (the last overture being from Maurel et Prom in late 2014). Having an indepth knowledge of regulations we however muse that the now ill considered statement by ToR Jnr last year and the absence of an update since the turn of the year may have in fact created a false market in the shares. Our own interpretation is that if there is no deal on Barryroe the Board are duty bound to put out an announcement to this effect. The fact that no such statement has occurred leads us to only conclude that there is a deal that has been due an imminent conclusion for some weeks.
In the alternate analysis, and the company now no longer has a “live” counterparty in relation to Barryroe, the non disclosure of this would, prima facie, be a breach of the listing regulations. In such an event we will make strong representations to the FCA with regards to a false market having been in place in the stock since any such period where negotiations were terminated.
Mr Plunkett – I and many other shareholders call upon you to clarify exactly where the company is in relation to the now infamous statement by Tony O’Reilly Jnr several months ago.
CLEAR DISCLOSURE – The author, who is a Director of Align Research Ltd, holds a personal position in the equity of Providence Resources and is bound to Align Research’s company dealing policy ensuring open and adequate disclosure. Full details can be found on our website here (“Legals”).