West African gold miners Perseus and Amara propose £68m deal

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX- and TSX-listed gold miner Perseus Mining on Monday announced a £68.3-million proposed combination with Aim-listed Amara Mining.

The transaction would give Perseus access to Amara’s Yaoure gold project, in Cote d’Ivoire, and its Baomahun gold project, in Sierra Leone.

Under the proposed transaction, Amara shareholders would receive 0.68 new Perseus shares and 0.34 unlisted warrants for every Amara share held. The warrants would allow Amara shareholders to subscribe for one Perseus share at a price of 44c each for a period of 36 months.

The offer represented a premium of 42.2% to Amara’s mid-market closing price on February 26.

Following the completion of the transaction, the enlarged company would be held 64.9% by existing Perseus shareholders, with Amara shareholders owning the remaining 35.1%.

“If approved by Amara’s shareholders, the proposal will potentially transform Perseus into a leading midtier West African gold producer, delivering significant benefits to shareholders of both Perseus and Amara,” said Perseus CEO Jeff Quatermaine.

“The opportunity to merge Perseus with Amara represents an outstanding opportunity to build strength through diversification. Amara’s Yaoure gold project is, in our opinion, one of the best undeveloped gold deposits in West Africa and will complement the other mines and projects under our management, which include Edikan and the development-ready Sissingue gold project, in Cote d’Ivoire.”

Quartermaine said that the future of the combined group was exciting, as Perseus was confident that by deploying its experienced human and financial resources to develop Amara’s projects, the company would create an entity with considerable market presence, capable of generating material benefits for both sets of shareholders.

Amara chairperson and CEO John McGloin said that a combination with Perseus would unlock the value of the Yaoure project, and deliver the optimal outcome for the project, and Amara’s shareholders.

“Perseus has the strong balance sheet to move Yaoure into production and an experienced operating team. This deal, therefore, addresses two of the major risks facing a junior developer, namely financing risk and the move from developer to producer, and I see this as a win-win for both companies.”

The transaction was subject to a number of conditions, including Amara shareholder and court approvals.