Todd Family Buy into English Tungsten Mine

Todd Corp, the investment company of New Zealand's wealthiest family, has acquired a 19.9 per cent stake in Wolf Minerals as part of a placement to help fund the ASX-listed company's development of a Tungsten mine in southwest England.

TTI (NZ), a unit of Todd, subscribed for 39.4 million shares in Wolf at 27 cents apiece, a 12 per cent premium to Wolf's 30-day volume-weighted average price, the Perth-based company said in a statement to the ASX. It may acquire more shares in 2013.

In total Wolf raised $A20.3 million ($NZ25.62m) in a placement of 75.4 million shares including to existing major shareholders Resource Capital Fund V, a Denver-based private equity fund, and Traxys Projects, a specialist financier for resource projects.

Wolf, whose shares trade on both the ASX and London's AIM market, is focused on developing the Hemerdon Tungsten and Tin Project in Devon, which it says is one the largest undeveloped tungsten and tin resources in the western world. Wolf holds an option over 100 per cent of the project.

The placement is a key condition of a US$75 million bridge finance facility and $US7 million ($NZ8.49m) royalty from Resource Capital Fund (RCF), which has provided funding to allow the project to start.

The royalty payment is an advance payment on 2 per cent of gross revenue from the project which RCF has acquired.

Wolf needs to raise additional equity in 2013 of about STG45 million pounds ($NZ88.23m) to repay the bridging finance and has been in talks with both RCF and Todd to take up about 25 million pounds of that.

Shares of Wolf last traded at 27.5 Australian cents on the ASX, valuing the company at A$31.4 million, and have climbed 25 per cent in the past month. Because of the size of the capital raising, the plan requires approval of shareholders at a meeting in Perth on Jan. 24.

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