The board and management of Azumah Resources’ has downed tools and moved on after its private equity partner, Ibaera Capital, moved to a majority 61% holding. Managing Director Steve Stone has resigned and non-executive director, Linton Putland will not seek re-election and both have recommended that shareholders accept Ibaera's increased 3.3c a share offer on their way out the door.
All major shareholders, including larger investors, Caitlyn Ltd and Harvest Lane Asset Management have now accepted and Ibaera, Azumah’s junior partner in the Wa gold project in Africa, has now assumed control.
The mining focussed private equity player has appointed well known Perth and Goldfields Geologist, Dr Jon Hronsky, to the Azumah board and it will appoint another director soon.
Hronsky has been a driving force for Ibaera in proving up and developing the Wa gold project where he has been calling the shots for some time.
One independent director, Mr Peter Stuntz, has also been appointed to the Azumah Board
This week Azumah unveiled a second supplementary bidders’ statement that confirms that all Azumah directors are now unanimously recommending that its shareholders accept Ibaera Capital’s new 3.3 cents offer a share.
Ibaera has declared that the 3.3 cent per Azumah share offer is final with the offer representing a 136% premium to the company’s closing price before the original offer was made in September and an 18% premium to the 2.8c per share offer originally made by Ibaera at that time.
Ibaera’s off-market, all-cash takeover offer of 3.3 cents per share, is for all of the shares in Azumah that Ibaera does not already own, effectively delivering Ibaera control of the Wa gold project.
Ibaera urged the remaining shareholders to accept its revised offer saying that there were risks associated with small shareholders remaining on an illiquid register. In particular, it re-iterated its goal of delisting the company which means that any remaining shareholders would lose the opportunity to trade their shares on market as they would then become minority shareholders in a private unlisted company if it was successful in achieving its delisting ambition.
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