Yahoo Finance Shanta Gold latest company to leave London’s markets after £142m buyout
Struggling East African gold miner, Shanta Gold is set to be bought up and have its AIM listing removed.
The cash takeover bid, which is worth 13.5 per share and values Shanta at £142m, comes from Tanzania-based group, Saturn Resources. The offer comes after gold prices spiked to an all-time high of $2,135 two weeks ago and has remained elevated due to rising geopolitical concerns.
“Given the significant technical, financial, regulatory and geopolitical risks, our objective is also to provide liquidity to shareholders to realise their investment for cash at an appropriate premium to the current market value,” said Shanta’s director, Ketan Patel, who also serves as a director of Shanta’s parent company, ETC Holdings.
The offer has been structured as a scheme of arrangement, which means it needs 75 per cent acceptance for it to go ahead.
Part of the deal requires that Shanta will leave the AIM exchange where it has been listed since 2005.
News of the bid propelled Shanta’s share price up to a six-month high of 13.07p.
Track all markets on TradingView
Tony Durrant, Shanta’s chairman, said the independent directors have confidence in the miner’s strategy with two mines in operation and “an exciting project in West Kenya.”
After Shanta rejected two offers from different companies last year for being too low, the company has seen interest recently from Chinese State-owned mining company Shandong Gold Group and Kyrgyz exploration and development company Chaarat Gold Holdings.
The company only recently appointed Honest Mrema as its new chief operating officer and chief financial officer in February, as its previous CFO stepped down to pursue other opportunities.
