Crusader pulls the trigger on Stratex merger

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Brazil-focused Crusader Resources has put into action an earlier nonbinding heads of agreement with Aim-listed Stratex International, announcing on Thursday that the two companies would merge.

ASX-listed Crusader has now entered into a binding scheme implementation deed with Stratex, which would see the London-listed company acquire Crusader in an all-scrip transaction.

Crusader shareholders would be given 6.6 common shares in Stratex, or 6.6 Stratex shares in the form of ASX-listed CHESS depository interests, for each Crusader share held, meaning that Crusader shareholders would hold an 81% interest in the combined company.

The transaction implied a value of A$54-million for Crusader, and offered a 56.5% premium to the company’s last trading price at May 17.

“We are delighted to move this exciting transaction a significant step closer to completion. Since announcing the heads of agreement in May, the merits of combining Crusader and Stratex have only become clearer,” said Crusader chairperson Stephen Copulos.

The Crusader directors have unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the offer, in the absence of a superior proposal, saying the combination with Stratex provided the potential for improved trading liquidity and capital market access, a listing on the London market, and access to a wider range of investors.

Stratex’s current cash balance of some A$10.9-million and its gold and base metals exploration interests, along with Crusader’s own Borborema and Juruena gold projects, would create greater scale and asset diversity, Copulos said.

As part of the transaction, Stratex will establish a secondary listing on the ASX to allow Crusader shareholders to trade on the bourse and will, subject to shareholder approval, undertake a consolidation of its issued capital on a 20-to-1 basis.

Subject to the receipt of all the necessary approvals, the merger would likely be implemented in October.