Gold miner Shanta Gold has confirmed that the requisite majority of voting scheme shareholders have voted in favour of a takeover by Tanzania-based Saturn Resources, or Bidco, which is a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary of global conglomerate ETC Holdings.
Shareholder approval as well as approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya were two of the outstanding conditions to the scheme.
Completion of the takeover remains subject to regulatory approvals from the Tanzanian Fair Competition Commission, the Tanzanian Mining Commission and the Cabinet secretary for Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs in Kenya.
Shanta expects the acquisition to become effective before the second half of the year.
The Bidco group in December reached agreement with Shanta on the terms and conditions of a recommended cash acquisition, pursuant to which Bidco would acquire the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of Shanta not already owned by any member of the Bidco group.
The acquisition is being implemented by way of a court-sanctioned scheme of agreement.
Bidco increased its final offer price in the process by 10%, which values the share capital of Shanta at about £156.1-million. Under the terms of the increased and final offer, scheme shareholders will be entitled to receive 14.85p in cash for each scheme share.
Additionally, each Shanta shareholder will be entitled to receive and retain an interim dividend of up to 0.15p apiece.
Shanta owns and operates the New Luika and Singida gold mines in Tanzania.