The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Centerra Gold ($8.10 (Canadian)) has struck a $1.1-billion (U.S.) deal to purchase Thompson Creek Metals (64 Canadian cents), a Colorado-based miner seeking relief from a mountain of debt.
The Globe's Ian McGugan writes that Centerra owns the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan and the Boroo gold mine in Mongolia. Centerra has been seeking a North American counterweight to those riskier locales and Thompson Creek's Mount Milligan copper and gold mine in British Columbia fits with its desire for safety. Centerra will issue shares for all of Thompson Creek's shares at a ratio that implies a value of 79 Canadian cents per Thompson Creek share. That is a 32-per-cent premium to the stock's closing price on Monday.
Centerra will also raise $170-million (Canadian) through a bought deal. It will use the proceeds to partly pay out the secured and unsecured noteholders of Thompson Creek.
When the deal closes in the fall, existing Centerra shareholders will own 92 per cent of the combined company, while current Thompson Creek shareholders will hold the rest.
An investment banker said Thompson Creek had aggressively sought an acquirer over the past year.
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