Tag: Mergers and acquisitions

Northern Star closes Echo takeover

Northern Star closes Echo takeover

AFTER launching a $193m takeover bid late in August, Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) has closed the deal to acquire the controlling interest of explorer Echo Resources (ASX: EAR). As Echo Resource's major shareholder, Northern Star offered shareholders $0.33c per share in August (a 39.4pc premium on Echo’s volume weighted average at 19 August) to secure a controlling 59.3pc of Echo’s shares. Echo Resources said the offer implies a fully diluted equity value of about $242.6m, with up to $193m payable by Northern Star for shares it does not already own, or the offer amount. Echo’s Yandal gold project, located 400km north of Kalgoorlie and in close proximity to Northern Star’s Jundee operation, was at the centre of the takeover...

A maiden exploration target has been established at the Pippingarra Quarry project.

Investors snubbing juniors

WHILE the recent Noosa Mining Conference in Queensland was abuzz with investors considering their options, there was a notable difference in sentiment towards larger companies as opposed to juniors. Keynote speaker Lion Selection executive director Hedley Widdup said investor sentiment had been low towards juniors since 2018. “In 2018 something broke. It is very difficult to raise money in the junior sector at the moment,” Mr Widdup said. “Investors are not only not buying, they are also selling, so there has been a wholesale movement away from the junior space.” Mr Widdup puts this partially down to the fact that being pre-production means juniors are harder to value which makes them hard to price – so why wouldn’t investors jump...

Hancock Makes Bid for Riversdale

Hancock Makes Bid for Riversdale

Hancock Prospecting chairman Gina Rinehart has her sights set on Riversdale’s Canadian assets. Image: Hancock Prospecting. BY EMMA DAVIES GINA Rinehart’s Hancock Corporation has announced an all-cash offer to acquire all of the ordinary shares in Riversdale Resources, in which Hancock does not already have a relevant interest. Riversdale is an Australian coal development company with assets in the Crowsnest Pass Complex in Alberta, Canada, including the Grassy Mountain project. Hancock had offered a price of $2.20 per share and would increase the offer price to $2.50 per share (totalling a bid of almost $600 million) if Hancock’s shareholding in Riversdale reached more than 50 per cent on a diluted basis before the close of the offer. This would...

Evolution Mining: Acting Boldly

Evolution Mining: Acting Boldly

All images: Evolution Mining. BY ELIZABETH FABRI WITH an absence of distressed sellers in the gold industry, Evolution is putting the brakes on acquisitions – for now – instead focusing on organic growth and achieving debt free status. If gold and copper prices remain where they are today, Evolution Mining could be debt free by the end of the calendar year, according to executive chairman Jake Klein. In the last two and a half years the miner has slashed more than $687 million in debt from its balance sheet and returned $190 million to shareholders in dividends. What’s more, group All-In Sustaining Costs (AISC) were cut by 20 per cent to $784 per ounce in the last 12...