Toronto-listed gold miner Guyana Goldfields has received a binding proposal from a foreign-based multinational mining company for the acquisition that is superior to that of fellow-listed Silvercorp Metals, valuing it at C$323-million.
The offer from the unnamed party constitutes a cash consideration of C$1.85 a share.
The new offeror has also agreed to provide Guyana with a $30-million secured loan facility to finance ongoing operations of the Aurora gold mine and to fund other liquidity needs of the company. Except for the amount of the new facility, the loan agreement proposed to be entered into between the company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the new offeror is substantially similar to the loan agreement with Silvercorp, Guyana pointed out.
However, based on the closing price of the Silvercorp common shares on the TSX on June 3, the new offer represents a premium of about 35% to the implied value of the consideration offered pursuant to the Silvercorp arrangement agreement.
Silvercorp’s five day matching period has started and expires on June 10.