29th Nov 2018 09:53
LONDON (Alliance News) - Polymetal International PLC said Thursday it has completed its acquisition of the remaining 82% stake in the Nezhda gold property in Russia and expects construction to being in March.
The gold and silver producer bought the stake from entities owned by its partner, Ivan Kulakov.
The acquisition consisted of two transactions. In the first of these, 7% of Nezhda was acquired for USD8 million in cash - the consideration for which having been paid out in 2017.
The second transaction was for 75% of Nezhda, for which Polymetal paid USD144 million - USD10 million in cash and USD134 million through the issue of 13.5 million Polymetal shares.
These shares represent 2.9% of Polymetal's enlarged share capital and will be admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange on Monday next week, after which time Polymetal's entire issued capital will total 469.4 million shares.
Overall, the full payment for 100% of Nezhda will be USD185 million, with the 82% most recently acquired representing GBP152 million of this.
"This transaction enables us to start mining at Nezhda immediately and begin construction in March 2019. We expect to deliver first production in 2021 with a full-ramp up in 2022", said Polymetal Chief Executive Vitaly Nesis.
Shares in Polymetal were up 0.3% at 790.20 pence on Thursday.
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