JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold-miner Randgold Resources said in an announcement on its website on Wednesday that Moto Goldmines had accepted its offer and that the two companies had entered into a business combination.

The London-listed Randgold said that they had entered into an arrangement agreement providing for the exchange of each outstanding common share of Moto for C$4,84 a share.

Immediately prior to accepting the Randgold transaction, Moto terminated its agreement with Red Back Mining and initiated payment to Red Back of the agreed termination fee of C$15 250 000.

AngloGold Ashanti, which said that it would acquire an indirect 50% interest in Moto for $244 million in cash, noted Moto's acceptance in a media release.

Under the transaction, Randgold said that Moto shareholders would receive 0,07061 of an ordinary Randgold share for every Moto share.

In addition, Moto shareholders would be provided the option to elect to receive $4,47 in cash for every Moto share to a total of $244-million, which AngloGold Ashanti would fund.

Assuming full cash take-up, Randgold said it would issue 3,9-million shares and pay $244-million to Moto shareholders.

Randgold said that Moto's board had unanimously the deal and that formal written support for it had been obtained from the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Moto has its assets.

The Randgold transaction valued Moto at $500-million and represented a premium to Moto shareholders of 7%, based on the closing price of Moto's common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) on May 29, and of 51%, based on the 20-day volume-weighted average price of Moto's common shares on the TSX on the same date.

Randgold said that AngloGold Ashanti had agreed to fund the cash election for 50% of Moto, and would be jointly responsible for funding the development of the Moto gold project.