TORONTO, Ontario INMET MINING CORP. and AUR RESOURCES, both of Toronto, have agreed to a merger of equals to create a new global mining company under the AUR MINING CORP. banner. The combined company will be one of North America's premier copper producers with a market capitalization of approximately US$1 billion.
Together the two companies operate seven profitable mines (Quebrada Blanca, Cayeli, Andocollo, Pyhasalmi, Ok Tedi, Louvicourt, and Troilus) on four continents. They expect to produce more than 380 million lb of copper in 2004 and will focus on increasing that output.
The management of the two companies will be merged as well as their mineral assets. James W. Gill, currently Aur Resources president and CEO, will be the chairman of the new company. Richard A. Ross, Inmet president and CEO, will hold those offices at Aur Mining.
The merger will be implemented through the amalgamation of Aur and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Inmet. On closing, Aur common shares will be automatically exchanged for Inmet common shares at the rate of 0.368 Inmet share for each Aur share. Existing Inmet shareholders will own about 54.6% and Aur shareholders about 45.4% of the new company. On a fully diluted basis, there will be approximately 78 million common shares outstanding at the completion of the merger. The deal is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals, and it will probably conclude following special shareholder meetings of both companies late in June 2004.
An audio file of the press conference announcing the proposal is archived at both www.AurResources.com and www.InmetMining.com.
Comments