Ivernia fall invites takeover

Last year, Ivernia West managing director David Hough made little secret of his displeasure at how his company was treated by the Irish stock market. Ivernia discovered and had brought the world-class Lisheen lead-zinc mine into production. That did not prevent Ivernia shares falling from a 2000 high of €1.07 to an end-December €0.56.

Ivernia decided to transfer its primary listing from Dublin to Toronto. "We made the decision, with the way the Irish market was going, that we would seek a listing elsewhere, where the market was more understanding of mining and what we were trying to do with Ivernia," David Hough told last September's general meeting.

Well, if Ivernia shareholders thought they were getting into a market more discerning of small-cap exploration companies, then they must be deeply disappointed. Ivernia's performance since it joined the Toronto stock exchange has been little short of catastrophic, with the share falling from an opening Can$1.00 at the beginning of January to just Can$0.40 this week. The performance here has been much the same, with the shares falling almost a third to the current €0.35.

Ivernia has a world-class mine in Lisheen and a blue-chip partner in Anglo American. But the way the share has gone must invite a takeover bid, with Anglo American favourite to take Ivernia out and take full control of Lisheen.