TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals on Friday said it had succeeded in securing a total of 60.12-million shares of rival Inmet Mining through its C$5.1-billion hostile takeover bid for the company, representing 85.5% of the company’s outstanding stock.

First Quantum said it had taken up and accepted for payment all the tendered shares and would make payments for it by Wednesday.

The company also extended the offer to 17:00 Eastern Daylight Time, on April 1, to allow the remaining Inmet shareholders to tender their shares to the offer.

Under terms of the takeover, outlined in December, Inmet shareholders would be paid up to C$72 a share or in First Quantum shares, or a combination of cash and shares. First Quantum in October put forward a bid of C$62.50, and in November raised it to C$70 a share.

First Quantum on Friday boasted about its prospect of having created, through the takeover deal, a new “world leader” in copper production.

With pro forma revenues this year forecast to be more than of $3.5-billion and a strategic plan to produce more than 1.3-million tons a year of copper by 2018, the company said it was poised to become the largest, widely held pure-play copper producer and one of the top five copper producers in the world.

It believed it would be one of the fastest-growing copper companies with a projected compound yearly growth in copper production of more than 20% “for at least the next decade”.

One of the combined company’s first objectives would be to conduct a detailed review of Inmet’s Cobre Panama project, in Panama, to determine the appropriate next steps in how the C$6.2-million project could be completed as efficiently as possible.

First Quantum said it was “excited” at the prospect of being able to apply First Quantum's experience and unique skills to Cobre Panama as soon as possible. The mine was expected to drive a 176% increase in Inmet's copper production by 2018.

Another critical objective was also to integrate the operations and people of the two companies.

Toronto-based Inmet had repeatedly recommended its shareholders reject First Quantum's offer, saying the deal was inadequate.

Inmet also said it was aiming to sell a minority stake in Cobre Panama to put it in a stronger negotiating position.

First Quantum said it recognised the success that Inmet has had in developing a social licence to operate at Cobre Panama and in operating well-managed and efficient mines at Las Cruces, in Spain; Cayeli, in Turkey and Pyhäsalmi, in Finland, which it added were valuable additions to its operating asset base.

“We are now focused on turning the vision into reality by putting together the great strengths of both companies - their high-quality mining assets and their equally high-quality human resources - to create a new global leader in copper with a far broader and more geographically diversified and dynamic portfolio of operating and development assets than either company on a standalone basis,” First Quantum chairperson and CEO Philip Pascall said.