Nord Gold to own 97.9% of High River after offer
Nord Gold to own 97.9% of High River after offer
Nord Gold will increase its ownership of High River to 97.9% under a share offer that could boost its free float and take it a step further to a premium London listing.
Author: Reuters
Posted: Monday , 10 Dec 2012
MOSCOW (REUTERS) -
Russia’s Nord Gold will increase its ownership of Toronto-listed subsidiary High River Gold to 97.9 percent under a share offer that could boost its free float and take it a step further to a premium London listing.
Nord Gold’s free float will increase to 14.6 percent after the deal, which included an issue of Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) to pay for part of the High River purchase, the Russian gold miner's spokeswoman, Diana Asonova, told Reuters on Monday.
The country's third-largest gold producer, controlled by steel billionaire Alexei Mordashov, said in July it would bid for the 25 percent of High River it does not already own. The minorities were offered 0.285 of Nord Gold’s GDRs per High River share or C$1.40 in cash.
Nord Gold said on Monday that 192 million shares of High River had been taken up under the offer, meaning Nord Gold will own almost 823 million shares of High River, representing 97.9 percent.