Despite St Barbara declining to engage with Silver Lake on the sale of its Leonora assets, Silver Lake has provided a revised offer with improved conditionality.
“The implied value of the Silver Lake proposal is $718 million, comprising $370 million in cash and 327.1 million Silver Lake shares valued at $3482 million,” Silver Lake said in a statement.
While this is not the first time that Silver Lake has increased its bid, St Barbara has historically held firm in its agreement to sell Leonora to Genesis Minerals.
“The binding Genesis transaction is fully and definitively documented, fully funded by a committed $400 million capital raising, not subject to due diligence, supported by a $25 million deposit and has received indications of support from 49 per cent of Genesis’ register,” St Barbara chair Kerry Gleeson said in May.
St Barbara’s Leonora operation is located in Western Australia and includes the Gwalia underground mine, the cornerstone of the operation.
Gwalia is the deepest underground trucking mine in the country, with a nominal capacity of 1.2 million tonnes a year.
St Barbara shareholders will have the opportunity to vote on Genesis’ takeover of Leonora at the upcoming general meeting on June 20.
“Silver Lake has left the Silver Lake proposal open until 30 June 2023, so as to provide comfort that Silver Lake remains ready and willing to engage on those terms should the Genesis proposal not proceed,” Silver Lake said.