Odey Asset Management should make its own offer for Sirius Minerals PLC (LON;SXX) if it thinks Anglo American is not offering enough, according to serial entrepreneur David Lenigas.
Last week, Odey slammed the £405mln, 5.5p cash offer from Anglo but Lenigas, who is also a shareholder in Sirius, believes the miner has made a ‘brave and good’ move with its bid.
Anglo likes very long-life projects and crucially it has the balance to take on the project, said Lenigas, who believes Sirius was unlucky with its timing when it tried to raise £400mln last year to move to the next stage.
Lenigas also believes the project will be good for the UK.
“It’s a billion-pound project and the number of jobs it would create in the UK is phenomenal.”
After Brexit, the UK wants to develop its own infrastructure and having its own source of fertiliser would be a key part of that.
"The world needs more fertiliser."
Shareholders meet next week to vote on the Anglo offer and Lenigas says he would not be surprised if another bidder emerged, though ‘who knows with fund managers involved’ he told Proactive.