Indra Widjaja, who is one of the controlling shareholders of Golden Energy and Resources, is in talks regarding a “possible acquisition” of the coal and gold miner.

Widjaja and other family members hold 77.49% of the company as at March 15.

GEAR shares hit as high as 93.5 cents on Oct 10, up 11.3% from the close of 84 cents last Friday.

“At present, there is no concrete outcome from the aforementioned discussions, and no definitive agreements have been entered into, involving the Company and its subsidiaries,” says GEAR in a market announcement.

GEAR is enjoying growing demand for coal as part of the wider commodities bull market.

On Aug 14, the company reported earnings of US$279 million for 1HFY2022 ended June, up 859% y-o-y, as contributions from its newly acquired stake in an Australian coal mine kicks in.

Revenue in the same period was up 201% y-o-y to US$2.43 billion, as the company benefitted from not just higher selling prices of coal but also a two-month contribution upon completion of taking a 80% stake Stanmore SMC, the Australian miner, for US$1.35 billion.

Palm oil player Golden Agri-Resources, another Singapore listed company controlled by the Widjajas, was up as much as 3.85% to 27.5 cents today; Geo Energy Resources, an unrelated Indonesia coal miner, was up 3.9% to 40 cents.

All three counters are among the mostly actively-traded stocks thus far today

Source: https://www.theedgesingapore.com/news/commodities/golden-energy-shares-surge-possible-acquisition-controlling-widjaja-family