The Russian company, Nordgold, headquartered in the United Kingdom appears to be winning the battle of Namdini over the Chinese Miner Shandong.
NordGold re-valued Cardinal Resources Namdini Gold Project at A$347 million based on 100% of the ordinary equity on issue and made a new offer of A$0.66 per share. Meanwhile, setting the stage for the contest, Chinese Miner Shandong had entered into a bid implementation agreement of A$0.60 per share with Cardinal Resources just before Nordgold’s new offer.
Nordgold’s new offer represents a 164% premium to the closing price of A$0.46 she offered on 13 March 2020. What this means is that the benefits of operating separately against the benefits of operating as a combined company is 11.7% better fo Cardinal Resources going for Shandong and 164% better with NordGold.
So in a strategic finance move, just like in a game of chess, Nordgold has taken a bold step in authorizing her broker, Taylor Collison, to commence purchasing all Cardinal shares on the ASX that she doesn’t already own. This unconditional on-market cash offer will automatically make Nordgold leap from 18.7% voting power to 51%.
According to the CEO of Nordgold, Nikolai Zelenski who holds PhD in Molecular Genetics, they have received all relevant approvals, including regulatory approvals in both Australia and Ghana on their decision on Namdini: and Nordgold is making her Offer free of all conditions and with an attractive expedited settlement terms. Consequently, NordGold is encouraging Cardinal shareholders to contact their brokers and to accept the Offer.
Established in 2007, Nordgold has become an internationally diversified gold producer, with 10 operating assets across two continents, including Burkina Faso and Guinea in West Africa, with a portfolio of high quality projects in feasibility study and in advanced exploration stages.
While some industry think tanks believe that NordGold’s interests in Namdini is an expression of her business confidence in the West African mining province, others think the proximity of Namdini to Nordgold’s assets in Burkina Faso makes economic sense for NordGold to be preferred. In 2019, Nordgold produced in excess of one million ounces of gold and this figure can only go up if she successfully lands on all toes in her leapfrog move to acquire Namdini.
