PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Catalyst Metals has launched a A$66-million takeover offer for fellow listed gold developer Vango Mining.

The takeover offer will see Vango shareholders receive 5 Catalyst shares for every 115 Vango shares held. The offer implies a value of 5.2c to each Vango share held, representing a premium of 19.1% to the company’s last closing price and a 30.2% premium to its five-day volume weighted average share price.

The transaction would see Vango shareholders hold up to 35.7% of the enlarged Catalyst.

Catalyst said on Tuesday that the offer was consistent with the company’s strategy to control high-grade gold belts in Australia, with Vango’s highly prospective Marymia gold project having more than 40 km of under-explored strike along the world-class Marymia-Plutonic gold belt in Western Australia.

In addition, the offer, if successful, will enable Catalyst to apply its significant exploration expertise, along with its operational learnings from its high-grade Henty gold mine in Tasmania to an aggressive exploration programme across Vango’s highly prospective and strategic tenement package.

Vango’s tenements host an existing resource of one-million ounces at 3.3 g/t and are located immediately adjacent to the Plutonic gold mine, which is an operating mine with a resource of six-million ounces, reserves of 600 000 oz and a three-million-tonne-a-year carbon-in-leach processing plant.

“This transaction is important for Catalyst and Vango shareholders. It turns a new leaf for the future of both companies. The combined group will have the financial strength and technical expertise to unlock the value of the prospective Marymia tenements. There is immense potential to create significant value for all shareholders by driving an aggressive exploration strategy on what has already proven to be a more than 15-million-ounce Australian gold belt,” said Catalyst MD and CEO James Champion de Crespigny.

Vango’s directors have unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the offer in the absence of a superior proposal.

The company’s major shareholders and directors Hunter Guo and Carol Zang have entered into binding pre-bid acceptance agreements over 252-million Vango shares, representing 19.99% of Vango’s current shares.

Furthermore, shareholders who collectively control 670-million Vango shares have also stated that they intend to accept the offer in the absence of a superior proposal.

“Bringing together Marymia’s huge exploration upside and the funding and technical knowledge of Catalyst makes enormous sense for all shareholders. It is the ideal recipe to create value for all Vango shareholders and therefore the board supports the bid unanimously,” said Vango executive chairperson Bruce McInnes.

The offer is subject to Catalyst obtaining a minimum 70% interest in Vango shares.