PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Independence Group has secured A$550-million in financing from a number of Australian banks to fund its takeover of fellow listed Sirius Resources.

In May, the two companies announced merger plans that would see Sirius shareholders issued with 0.66 of an Independence share for every one Sirius share held, along with a cash consideration of 52c a share.

The takeover offer valued Sirius at around A$1.8-billion.

Sirius reported on Wednesday that the finance facilities included a five-year A$350-million amortising term loan facility which would be used to finance the existing Noval project finance facility and provide funds for the continued development, construction and operation of the project, as well as a five-year A$200-million revolving loan facility that would be used to partially fund the payment of the cash component of the acquisition, as well as the transaction costs and general corporate funding.

Independence said the agreement provided the company with significantly more operational and financial flexibility than alternative financing options, including retaining the existing Nova project finance facility.

Meanwhile, Independence also reported record revenues and net cash flow from operations during the financial year ended June 30, with some A$498.6-million in revenue generated and A$201.7-million in free cash flow.

During the quarter ended June, the Tropicana gold joint venture delivered 116 600 oz of gold, of which Independence’s share equalled 34 980 oz. This was down from the 122 319 oz delivered in the previous quarter, with the June quarter production decline attributed to lower processing plant throughput, owing to planned maintenance work.

The Long nickel mine produced 2 338 t of contained nickel, which was in line with the 2 737 t of nickel produced in the previous quarter, while the Jaguar mine delivered 10 221 t of zinc and 1 449 t of copper metal in concentrate.

Both zinc and copper production from the Jaguar mine increased on the 9 406 t of zinc and 1 123 t of copper metal delivered in the March quarter.