23rd Dec 2019 17:19
(Alliance News) - Centamin PLC on Monday said it has asked UK regulators to extend Canadian firm Endeavour Mining Corp's takeover offer deadline.
If the Panel on Takeovers & Mergers approves the extension, Endeavour will have until January 14 to announce whether or not it will make an offer for Centamin. The original takeover offer deadline was December 31.
Centamin said: "The board continues to believe that the possible offer materially undervalues Centamin and advises shareholders to take no action."
Endeavour added: "Endeavour continues to believe in the strategic merits of a merger with Centamin for both sets of shareholders, and welcomes the extension of the PUSU deadline announced by Centamin, which will allow both parties to commence their due diligence investigations."
Endeavour on Thursday said it has made a number of concessions to Egyptian gold miner Centamin, including signing a non-disclosure agreement "in good faith".
However, it has accused Centamin of being unwilling to "explore meaningfully" the benefits of a merger, given the "nature of the interaction" with Centamin.
Canada's Endeavour at the start of December proposed a deal in which Centamin shareholders would get 0.0846 of an Endeavour share per Centamin share held, giving Centamin shareholders 47% of a combined company.
The merger values Centamin at around GBP1.47 billion.
Centamin shares closed 2.3% higher at 114.20 pence each in London on Monday.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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