Mantengu Mining, formerly Mine Restoration, has recently made headlines by raising concerns of potential share price manipulation, albeit without the consent of the JSE. The company said they had taken the “unpopular stance” of overriding the JSE in the interests of transparency to its shareholders.
The allegations of share price manipulation are based on several trades made outside the normal day’s, which were way below the market trading price. Commenting on the trades, Mantengu Mining chief financial officer Magen Naidoo said “None of this makes any economic sense”.
“If you are looking for proof of market abuse, look at the performance of the shares since we issued the announcement a week ago,” Naidoo says. “It’s obvious that the perpetrators have gone into hiding, though we are watching the situation very closely as we are not convinced that they won’t return.”
Mantengu Ming suspects that the price manipulation may be attempts to derail their grow plans. The company secured a R500 million facility last month that is linked to the share price. “We believe this is a calculated campaign to manipulate our share price lower by certain actors trying to disrupt our growth plans and prevent us accessing the cash we need for what is a fairly aggressive expansion path,” says CEO Mike Miller.
The Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) is currently investigating the alleged manipulation of Mantengu Mining’s share price.
Read the full article on Moneyweb.