M&A

Alexandria jumps on Agnico Eagle bid

Latest offer trounces May 14 agreement with Chantrell Ventures

Agnico Eagle has made a US$19.39 million offer to acquire fellow Toronto-based Alexandria Minerals

Agnico Eagle has made a US$19.39 million offer to acquire fellow Toronto-based Alexandria Minerals

The mid-tier has offered C5c for each of the junior's shares.

Alexandria said its board had concluded the unsolicited offer constituted a superior proposal to the May 14 agreement with Chantrell Ventures. Chantrell now has 10 business days in which to consider an increase of its offer for Alexandria.

Alexandria would have to terminate the Chantrell agreement and pay a fee of C$875,000 to be in a position to sign an agreement with Agnico Eagle. If the Alexandria board accepts the Agnico Eagle offer, the agreement will be subject to approval by Alexandria shareholders.

Agnico Eagle said the acquisition would allow it to consolidate an additional 14,819 hectares of mining claims that cover about 35km of strike length along the Cadillac-Larder Lake break in the prospective Val d'Or gold camp of Quebec.

Three of Alexandria's properties (Orenada, Akasaba and Sleepy) contain total historical inferred resources of 526,702oz gold in 4.6 million tonnes grading 3.5g/t and indicated resources of 448,654oz gold held in 7.4Mt grading 1.88g/t.

"Agnico Eagle has a long history of involvement with Alexandria, both as an equity investor and through the purchase of the Akasaba West property in 2014," said Agnico SVP president for exploration Alain Blackburn.

"We believe that the key Alexandria properties are highly prospective and underexplored and could potentially provide future sources of ore at our nearby Goldex mine."

Under the proposal, each Alexandria shareholder will have the option to receive cash, Agnico common shares and cash, or Agnico Eagle shares only.

Agnico said the proposal represented a premium to the value under Alexandria's agreement with Chantrell and to the current market price of Alexandria shares.

Agnico Eagle currently owns 28.8 million Alexandria shares, or about 5.6% of Alexandria's outstanding equity float.

Alexandria's (TSXV:AZX) gained C2c or 57% to 5.5c on Friday, which capitalises it at $25.8 million.

 

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Journal Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Journal Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Global Leadership Report 2024: Net Zero

Gain insights into decarbonisation trends and strategies from interviews with 20+ top mining executives and experts plus an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Project Pipeline Handbook 2024

View our 50 top mining projects, handpicked using a unique, objective selection process from a database of 450+ global assets.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Investor Sentiment Report 2024

Survey revealing the plans, priorities, and preferences of 120+ mining investors and their expectations for the sector in 2024.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Mining Equities Report 2023

Access an exclusive, inside look on the quarterly mining IPOs and secondary raisings data and mining equities performance tables with an annual Stock Exchange Comparisons supplement.