Interesting combination...I would have thought or bet either Barrick or Newmont to take a shot at Kirkland, the Agnico angle is a little surprising but not totally unexpected. For Agnico & its s/h this merger gives them a solid portfolio of assets especially the valuable Detour gold mine in Canada. For Kirkland s/h, it brings this wonderfull sucessfull but recently long & dragged out story to an abrupt end.
Some Kirkland retail holders might not be too happy with how all this has ended or the compensation given by Agnico mgmt BUT folks must realize that the "expected" premium to purchase Kirkland was done factored in WAY before today's anouncement. Most probably at least 6 months ago when the stock was trading at barely $40 CDN. In other other words, those that had to be greased, rewarded or needed to make money on this deal to make sure this passed with no hiccups did so months ago. In simple terms for those that still don't understand, i mean the insiders or holders that mattered not small retail.
For those investors that think there might still be some chance of another "white knight" stepping in with a more attractive offer, maybe a behemoth like Barrick or Newmont with resources to do so, think again. WHY? Welll, for starters, this was not a hostile takeover or an offer out of the blue with no consultation with Kirkland mgmt/bod. It was a long, carefully negotiated deal and a MERGER OF EQUALS. In other words, both sides came to a mutally beneficail understanding & agreement. You don't do this without the explict intent of carrying this to the bitter end and evetual consumation of the deal. Secondly, look at that humungous break-up fee, which is about $500M. That's one helluv of hit a to take to derail the deal for something that MIGHT be slightly better. Imo, the odds of another offer coming along with all the info we have so far is.......quite low to non-existant. And as there is respect, comaraderie and an understanding betweeen the folks in Canada's struggling gold industry, i strongly doubt ANY Canadian company (mgmt) would dare to bust in and start mowing someone elses lawn to derail this deal.
So an interesting turn of events for sure, and i expect more deals of similar scope in the coming 24 months. If Agnico mgmt have accurately calculated as i have the coming explosion in Gold/Silver prices, this will be the steal of the decade for Agnico & its s/h.
Good luck & God speed