Arbitrage! Primero Mining and First Majestic

Mark Twain once said: “A gold mine is a hole in the ground with a liar standing on top of it.”  I think mining is more like a rusty, leaky bucket that you need to pour capital so as to keep the bucket filled.

A better description: mining is a capital intensive business that must be constantly replenishing its depleting reserves which are hard to find much less extract economically.

However, if you buy Primero Mining (PPPMF) say this morning 9:40 AM at 18 cents you will receive 0.03325 shares of First Majestic Silver (AG) that you short at $6.00, for example.   For each share of Primero bought at 18 cents allows you to own ($0.18/.03325) a proportional share of First Majestic at $5.41.  The difference between your short sale of First Majestic at $6 and 5.41 is ($6 – 5.41)/5.41 is about 10.9%.

Or the short sale of $6 of First Majestic converts at 0.0335 into a share price of Primero Mining of ($6 x 0.03325) or $0.1995.   The difference between the 18 cents that you paid for Primero and 19.95 cents received upon the closing of the transaction is (1.95 cents/ 18 cents) or 10.8%. The deal should close within the next twenty days.   The annual return if the deal closes in the next 10 to 20 days is over 100%.  March 13th is Primero’s shareholder meeting to approve the deal.

I believe there is a 98% chance of the deal going through thanks to all three parties benefiting. Wheaton precious metals’ (WPM) stream was restructured so there is now an economic mine and opportunity for WPM to receive cash flow. Primero shareholders are no longer faced with bankruptcy, and First Majestic has the money and the expertise to handle underground mining to expand their reserves and cash flows.  https://www.gurufocus.com/forum/read.php?10,622803,622803,report=1

Also, the proxy advisor has given the go ahead for the MARCH 13th meeting.  http://www.primeromining.com/English/investors/news/press-release-details/2018/Leading-Independent-Proxy-Advisory-Firms-Recommend-Primero-Shareholders-Vote-in-Favour-of-Proposed-Arrangement/default.aspx

If the deal would fall through, then let’s imagine your 18 cents is now worth $0 (PPPMF probably drops to 5 cents, but let’s be cruel) and AG spikes up 50 cents. On the deal announcement, AG fell 30 cents. Every dollar in PPPMF goes to $0 and every short dollar in AG loses about 10%.  A 2% chance of the deal not closing causes a loss of $1.10 for every dollar invested–which means an expected loss of 2.2 cents vs. making about 10 cents to 11 cents on each dollar invested in the arbitrage.  I have an expected value of about 8 to 9 cents on each dollar invested in this arbitrage within the next month.  Not bad considering my alternatives today.

See below 

Mexico-focused company First Majestic Silver has signed a definitive arrangement agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Primero Mining for $320m.

Under the agreement, every Primero shareholder will receive 0.03325 First Majestic common shares in exchange for one Primero common unit.

Primero owns the San Dimas silver-gold mine in the Mexican state of Durango.
Primero has identified more than 120 epithermal veins with exploration potentiality throughout its production history.

In parallel with the deal, First Majestic has entered separate agreements with Wheaton Precious Metals International (WPM) to terminate the existing silver streaming interest at the San Dimas mine.

You can use Google Alerts to send to your email notices of buyouts, mergers, etc. Then do your homework.  These tiny, obscure deals are out there.

This is NOT a recommendation for you to do this arbitrage, but follow the logic or the lack thereof.   

One response to “Arbitrage! Primero Mining and First Majestic

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