My pick is oils sands producer GFR.TO GFR.N. WEF III controls 71%, FFH owns 77.5% of WEF III. Their cost base is just over C$8. Buying the public shares allows minority investors to sidecar for free and at a ~20% discount. Fairfax India shareholders might appreciate riding on FFH’s dime for a change.
The company completed a rights issue last week which has the effect of clearing out the weakest hands. The oil price is low and GFR trades at a big discount to peers including sister company SCR so any strength in oil prices is likely to lead to inflows. SCR also completed its C$2.1b dividend/distribution which is likely to hit accounts of shareholders next week (mine hit Christmas Eve after the close) who may also decide to pick up GFR shares. GFR’s entire float cap is C$350m.
The company used the rights issue to pay off expensive debt with restrictive covenants. It’s going to outspend cash flow next year to grow production as 95% of its cost base is fixed. A production increase of 25%+ will have a dramatic increase in cash flow given the operating leverage.
To me the best case scenario is that the shares quickly rerate and they use the paper to consolidate the region where a few private oil sands companies may be open to all stock deals. These deals will probably be accretive and increase the float enough to get into a few benchmarks which should further help with multiple expansion.
Fairfax India could also have a great year if they are able to buy IDBI in a creative way and/or if they are able to IPO Anchorage, a holding company which owns part of BIAL.