UK fund unlocks 360% paper profit in Aminex deal

Argos Capital Management, the UK alternative investment manager, has unlocked a 360 per cent paper profit by exercising a right to buy shares in Dublin-listed oil and gas explorer Aminex at a deeply discounted price.

Aminex, whose shares have soared almost 400 per cent from their lows of last year, said on Tuesday that Argos had exercised a right to buy 167.5 million shares – equivalent to 4.6 per cent of the company which has a market value of £159 million (€185 million) – at a price of 1p each.

The shares were worth 4.6p each at the time of the announcement, giving the stake a value of £7.7 million and delivering a paper gain of more than £6 million. They subsequently fell in value.

The rights to buy the stake stemmed from financial instruments known as warrants attached to a $8 million (€7.2 million) loan facility provided by Argos Capital Management to Aminex in January 2013.