Astra Resources PLC arrives on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

The diversified mining company Astra Resources PLC (Code: 9AR) has now listed in the Frankfurt Stock Exchange today at €1.50, which is the UK parent company of Astra Mining.

Astra is firmly targeted on China and India, with the company's primary focus to satisfy the expanding resource demands of these massive urbanising nations.

Astra will look to secure the supply chain of the raw materials related to the steel industry, including iron ore, coal, gold and other raw materials.

The company is also strategically positioned to capitalise on delivering efficiencies from the steel making process, a high demand sector in both these markets.

These steel efficiencies are driven by T-Steel, which is the flagship asset of Astra, with the company holding a 45% interest in T-Steel along with full management and operational control over the technology.

T-Steel is a patented technology that has been proven to substantially reduce the cost of production, and to significantly strengthen produced steel.

The high value intellectual property in T-Steel has been valued at €4.47 billion on a NPV basis (around A$6.18 billion) by a Top 4 accounting firm and is on the verge of large scale commercialisation.

T-Steel has a strong commercial record (under various code names) in Europe. This has immediate effect in China and India who can increase the strength of steel per capita from existing operations, hence reduce the need of the number of new steel plants.

Frankfurt listing a major step forward
Astra chief executive officer Dr Jaydeep Biswas said that the listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is a major step forward for the company.

“After meeting the requirements of the Deutsche Börse, our listing will enable Astra to raise capital to expand our projects internationally.

“This listing is a major milestone for the company and something we have been working hard towards achieving.

“The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the world's largest trading exchanges and provides access to global capital markets, so all these factors make it an attractive option to become a publicly listed company on this exchange.”

Prospectus pending
Astra will prepare a prospectus in the coming months, with the company in negotiations with Minevest USA to underwrite the capital raising of around €1 billion through their own network and associated international banks.

Astra managing director, Silvana De Cianni, says the minimum issue price of the prospectus as advised by Minevest could be €1.50, but potentially higher.

“Between now and issuing our prospectus, we will be raising equity capital by placing company-owned treasury stock and allocations to stockbroking firms.

“We have a number of projects at various stages of development, including our 45 per cent stake in the revolutionary T-Steel, so capital raised will go directly towards progressing these ventures.

“Through our listing and ongoing capital raising we expect Astra Resources to become a major player on the global resources stage in a short amount of time.”

Astra Resources global portfolio includes gold and copper interests in Southeast Asia, coal mines in Africa, iron ore in India, and the production of the high-strength T-Steel technology in Hungary.

Originally published at: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/20252/astra-resources-plc-arrives-on-the-frankfurt-stock-exchange-20252.html