Nordgold prolongs offer to buy Cardinal Resources till Nov 20

LONDON, Oct 29 (PRIME) -- Gold producer Nordgold, controlled by Russian tycoon Alexei Mordashov, has prolonged its bid for all of ordinary shares of Australian gold producer Cardinal Resources Limited to November 20 from November 3, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

“Nordgold gives notice under section 649C of the Corporations Act 2001, that Nordgold varies the offer by extending the offer period, so that the offer period will now expire immediately at the close of trading on ASX (the Australian Stock Exchange) on November 20, 2020 unless further extended or withdrawn in accordance with the Corporations Act,” the statement read.

In mid-March, Nordgold bought 19.9% in Cardinal Resources for Australian $0.43798 per paper. In July, the Russian company made an offer to buy the remaining shares of Cardinal Resources at Australian $0.66 per security, outbidding the offer of China’s Shandong Gold of Australian $0.6 per paper. After that, the Chinese company outbid Nordgold offering Australian $1, and the Russian company equaled its offer with the Chinese one on October 21.

Currently, Nordgold owns 28% in Cardinal Resources, which makes it the largest shareholder of the company. The Russian company may spend about U.S. $270 million to buy the remaining shares.

Nordgold also plans to make an over-the-counter offer over some shares in Cardinal. If Shandong makes a higher offer, Nordgold may also raise the price of its over-the-counter offer up to Australian $1.05 per share or another sum that will outbid Shandong.

The board of directors of Cardinal Resources earlier recommended approval of the offer of Shandong and to make no actions on Nordgold’s offer. In order for the offer of the Chinese company to go through, shareholders that control at least 50.1% in Cardinal should approve it.

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