Silver Lake Resources is not giving up on acquiring St Barbara’s sought-after Leonora gold assets, upping its bid once more.
The revised proposal still comprises 327.1 million shares, but Silver Lake has increased its cash consideration from $326 million to $370 million, matching Genesis’ improved offer from last week.
Silver Lake’s proposal equates to a total consideration of $722 million, an increase of $15 million from the company’s prior offer.
The share consideration calculated in Silver Lake’s prior proposal ($381.1 million) was based on the company’s five-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) between May 4 and May 10, while the share consideration in the revised offer ($352 million) was based on Silver Lake’s closing share price on May 19 ($1.075).
Silver Lake said despite its intent to engage St Barbara, there has been no reciprocal interest.
“Silver Lake has sought constructive engagement with the St Barbara board over the last 12 months to explore a potential transaction in the interests of both sets of shareholders, including approaching St Barbara prior to the announcement of its proposed nil premium corporate transaction with Genesis Minerals Ltd in December 2022,” Silver Lake said in a statement.
“However, at no stage has St Barbara or its advisers meaningfully engaged with Silver Lake.”
St Barbara has been more forthcoming to Genesis Minerals, unanimously recommending the latter’s revised offer from last week.
The company then scheduled an extraordinary general meeting for June 20 to enable St Barbara shareholders to vote for the Genesis deal, but the revised Silver Lake proposal was made a day later.
“St Barbara acknowledges receipt of the revised non-binding, indicative and conditional proposal which is currently being reviewed by the St Barbara board,” St Barbara said on Monday regarding Silver Lake’s revised offer.
“The St Barbara board will update the market once it has concluded its deliberations.”
Subscribe to Australian Resources & Investment and receive the latest news on commodity prices, resource developments, executive movements and more.