Posted on 10 Jul 2024
Mach Metals Australia, owned by Indonesian billionaire Anthoni Salim’s Salim Group, has made an AUD 393 million ($265m) offer to acquire Australian copper miner Rex Minerals.
The companies signed a scheme implementation deed (SID), under which Mach will acquire all outstanding shares of Rex for AUD 0.47 per share, Rex said in a regulatory filing on Monday. Mach is already a major shareholder of the Australian miner with a 15.8% stake.
The offer represents a premium of 79% to Rex’s 30-day, volume-weighted average price (VWAP) and 98% to the 90-day VWAP, Kallanish understands. The company’s shares surged over 63% compared to Friday’s close of AUD 0.275. It was trading at AUD 0.44/share at the time of writing.
Rex says it received the offer following a search for partners to develop its Hillside copper-gold project in South Australia. One of the largest undeveloped copper projects in Australia, the project has a mineral resource of 1.9 million tonnes of copper and 1.5m ounces of gold. The mine development is expected to cost AUD 854m.
“Management has done a terrific job advancing Hillside to be Australia’s largest fully permitted and shovel-ready copper project,” says Ian Smith, Rex’s independent non-executive chairman. “The Mach offer is the culmination of many years of hard work and delivers certain value for shareholders.”
Ferdian Purnamasidi, managing director of Mach, adds: “We are excited to acquire and continue the development of the Hillside Project, which aligns with our strategy to diversify our asset portfolio. Our strong focus on copper is critical to the energy transition process.”
The Rex board has unanimously recommended the deal. It is, however, subject to approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board and Rex shareholders.
Following a shareholder meeting to approve the proposal in October, the deal is expected to be implemented in late October.
Source:Kallanish
