Sydney-based Waratah Resources Limited plans to launch an Islamic commodities trading business as it shifts focus from Asian markets to the Middle East, the company said in a statement.
IN ITS ASX ANNOUNCEMENT DATED 14 APRIL 2015, THE COMPANY SAID:
WARATAH RESOURCES LIMITED AND AMANIE HOLDINGS LTD SIGN JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT
Following the announcement on 31 March 2015, Waratah Resources Limited (ASX:WGO) (“Waratah” or “the Company”), is pleased to announce that it has signeda Joint Venture Agreement with Amanie Holdings Ltd (“Amanie”), a global Shariah advisory and investment group, for the purpose of funding its commodity trading business.
Under the terms of the Joint Venture Waratah and Amanie will form an incorporated Joint Venture vehicle to be known as Ausmal Synergy Limited, which will be domiciled in Labuan, Malaysia, to develop and integrate a commodities trading business. The parties will be equal shareholders in the new joint venture company and will each hold 50% of the issued shares in the new company.
Waratah and Amanie look forward to a long, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship together as they create a global commodity trading business.
Ben Kirkpatrick, Executive Chairman Waratah Resources commented:
“The Waratah team has worked very hard to get to this stage and I am pleased that we have been able to sign the Joint Venture Agreement with Amanie so soon after entering into the non‐binding letter of intent.
I look forward to working with Amanie and feel that Amanie’s in‐depth knowledge, experience and business network will be extremely beneficial as we continue to grow our global commodity trading business.
Our next goal is to secure funding arrangements with partners who have been introduced by our Shariah partners over the past few months, to provide the required capital for our Joint Venture vehicle, Ausmal Synergy Limited.”
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Waratah Resources Limited is an ASX Listed Company (ASX: WGO) that generates value for its shareholders by identifying and acquiring projects that have significant discovery and development potential. Waratah has two separate though synergized divisions: a commodities trading division which sources, manages and trades commodities from Indonesia to large scale end users throughout Asia, with a new focus on the Middle East; and a resource projects group which is discovering resources in iron ore, copper, gold and coal with a focus on Indonesia and Gabon in West Africa.
ABOUT AMANIE
Founded by Datuk Dr Mohd Daud Bakar, Amanie Holdings consists of companies that are building its capacity to accelerate the growth of Islamic finance industry globally. With a wide range of associated companies under its wing, Amanie is well placed to take Islamic finance to the next level. Currently the team from Amanie comprises of a number of professionals from diverse background (Shariah, investment banking, legal, economics, capital market, funds management) across offices in Melbourne, Dubai, Luxembourg, Kuala Lumpur, Astana, Cairo, Dublin, Muscat, Seoul, Tunis and Casablanca that focuses on Shariah structuring , corporate and capital advisory. Amanie’s uniqueness is its independence and relationship‐driven business focus. Amanie currently serves institutional, corporate and financial institutional clients.
THE REUTERS REPORT ADDED:
In September, Goldman Sachs raised $500 million in a debut sale of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, with proceeds of the deal to be used in its commodities business of J. Aron & Co.
Islamic commodity trading plays an important role in the sector as a source of short term funds for Islamic banks, which cannot use conventional interbank money markets because of Islam's ban on interest.
They have mainly used commodities from the London Metal Exchange to structure such short-term funding deals, typically through commodity murabaha contracts, a common sharia-compliant financing structure.
Islamic financing has struggled to get a foothold in Australia due in part to tax issues. Structures such as sukuk can attract double or even triple tax charges because they require multiple transfers of title of the underlying asset.
AN EARLIER ASX ANNOUNCEMENT BY WARATAH RESOURCES DATED 31 MARCH 2015:
WARATAH RESOURCES LIMITED AND AMANIE HOLDINGS LETTER OF INTENT
Waratah Resources Limited (ASX:WGO)(“Waratah” or “the Company”), announces that it has entered into a non‐binding letter of intent with Amanie Holdings (“Amanie”), a Global Shariah, boutique advisory house, to form a Joint Venture for the purpose of funding its commodity trading business.
Waratah is developing its presence in the commodity space and views the long term potential with Amanie very positively. The intention is for Amanie to assist in the provision of the necessary finance and other commercial relationships that will allow Waratah to rapidly expand its trading business.
Amanie is one of the global leaders in Shariah advisory and consultancy services, setting the standards in terms of performance, transparency and long term commitment to its business and clients.
Negotiations are underway with Shariah compliant institutions and foreign banks for the future funding of commodity transactions, undertaken by the Waratah and Amanie Joint Venture.
The parties intend to diligently work together to execute and complete a binding Joint Venture agreement that will contain, among other things, terms covering the following issues:
Establishment of the Joint Venture vehicle;
Voting rights in respect of the Joint Venture;
Funding of the Joint Venture;
The respective rights of the parties ‐ it is currently expected that each party will own 50% of the Joint Venture;
Dispute resolution provisions; and
Other terms normally associated with such agreements.
The parties anticipate that the Joint Venture documents will be agreed as soon as possible.
Waratah and Amanie look forward to a long, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship together as they create a global commodity trading business.
Dr Mohd Daud Bakar, Executive Chairman of Amanie Holdings commented:
“The Joint Venture is indeed a very exciting prospect for us at Amanie as it expands the reach of the Amanie Group into a business segment that we have always had a very high regard for and to do it with a reputable partner such as Waratah definitely adds more credence to this venture going forward”.
Ben Kirkpatrick, Executive Chairman Waratah Resources commented:
“We are pleased to update the market on this letter of intent and Joint Venture. We look forward to an enduring relationship with our Amanie colleagues, as together we build a truly global commodity trading house. The Board of Waratah has a diverse range of international business experience and coupled with Dr Daud and his exemplary team and their commercial acumen we have a most exciting future together”.
For further details or enquiries please contact:
Ben Kirkpatrick
Executive Chairman
Waratah Resources Ltd
T: (+61) 9232 6383
E: ben.kirkpatrick@waratahresources.com.au
Halimah Hussain/Megan Ray
Blytheweigh
T: (+44) 207 138 3204
E: Halimah.hussain@blytheweigh.com / megan.ray@blytheweigh.com
