Wyloo Group makes $760m takeover bid for Mincor Resources
Wyloo has offered Mincor shareholders $1.40 per share, which represents a 35% premium to its previous closing price of $1.04.
Billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Group has made a $760 million on-market takeover bid for the remaining shares in Mincor Resources (ASX: MCR) which it does not currently own.
Wyloo Group is Mincor’s largest shareholder with 19.9% equity (or 106.5 million shares) and manages a diverse portfolio of exploration and development projects, as well as cornerstone investments in public companies.
It sits within the Tattarang Group alongside Wyloo Consolidated Investments and Wyloo Metals, and is owned by Dr Forrest and his wife Nicola.
The proposed takeover is being conducted by Wyloo Consolidated and follows the group’s strategy to develop projects, which will produce the raw materials needed for rapid decarbonisation of the global economy.
Unconditional offer
Under the terms of the unconditional offer, Wyloo will offer Mincor shareholders $1.40 per share, representing a 35% premium to the $1.04 closing price of Mincor shares on 20 March.
Wyloo says the offer represents attractive value to Mincor shareholders given current risks and uncertainties in the face of prevailing economic and equity market risks.
These risks have ultimately had an impact on Mincor’s total valuation, as demonstrated by a 45% decline in its share price over the last 12 months.
Merrill Lynch Equities (Australia) has been appointed Wyloo’s broker for the takeover.
Nickel restart
In 2022, Mincor Resources re-established itself as an Australian nickel producer with the integrated restart of its Kambalda operations in Western Australia.
Two years earlier, the company completed a definitive feasibility study for the restart which confirmed an economically-robust project with low start-up capital requirements and strong financial returns.
The study outlined an initial five-year operation with forecast production of 71,000 tonnes of nickel-in-ore, unit cash costs of $3.36 per pound and $68 million in pre-production capital expenditure.
High-grade sulphides
Today, Mincor produces high-grade nickel sulphides from the restarted Northern Operations and from the greenfields Cassini mine.
The sulphides are processed at the nearby Kambalda nickel concentrator under a 2019 agreement with BHP Group (ASX: BHP) whereby all imputed metal concentrates are sold to subsidiary BHP Billiton Nickel West Pty Ltd.
Following the close of its takeover offer, Wyloo will conduct a review of Mincor’s operations, assets, structure and employee base to identify additional business and revenue opportunities.