Filing of a draft information document prepared by EURO Ressources
in response of the buy-out offer followed by a squeeze-out
initiated by IAMGOLD France SAS
FILING OF A DRAFT INFORMATION DOCUMENT
PREPARED BY EURO RESSOURCES IN RESPONSE OF THE BUY-OUT OFFER
FOLLOWED BY A SQUEEZE-OUT INITIATED BY IAMGOLD FRANCE
SAS
Paris, France, December 6, 2023: A draft
information document in response has been prepared by EURO
Ressources and filed with the Autorité des marchés financiers
("AMF") on December 6, 2023 pursuant to the
provisions of articles 231-19 and 231-26 of the General Regulations
of the AMF.
This news release has been prepared by EURO
Ressources pursuant to article 231-26 of the General Regulations of
the AMF.
The offer and the draft offer document
filed by IAMGOLD France SAS and the draft information document in
response from EURO RESSOURCES are subject to
review by the AMF.
1. Summary
of the conditions of the buy-out offer followed by a squeeze-out
initiated by IAMGOLD France SAS
Pursuant to Title III of Book II and more
specifically Articles 236-3 and 237-1 of the AMF General
Regulations, IAMGOLD France, a simplified joint stock company
(société par actions simplifiée) incorporated under French law,
having its registered office located at 1830 Route de Montjoly,
97354 Remire-Montjoly, and registered with the trade and companies
registry of Cayenne under number 402 207 153 ("IAMGOLD
France" or the "Offeror") irrevocably
offers to the shareholders of EURO Ressources S.A., a joint stock
company (société anonyme) with a share capital of €624,912.81,
having its registered office at 23, rue du Roule, 75001 Paris,
France, registered with the trade and companies registry of Paris
under number 390 919 082 ("EURO Ressources" or the
"Company"), the common shares of which (the
"Shares") are admitted to trading on the B
compartment of Euronext Paris S.A. under code ISIN FR 0000054678
(mnemonic EUR), to acquire all their Shares at a price of €3.50 per
Share (the "Offer Price") as part of a buyout
offer (the "Buyout Offer") to be followed
immediately by a squeeze-out (the "Squeeze-out")
on the terms set out below (the Buyout Offer together with the
Squeeze-out, the "Offer").
In accordance with the provisions of Article
231-13 of the AMF General Regulations, Natixis, as presenting bank
("Natixis" or the "Presenting
Bank"), has filed on 14 November 2023 the draft Offer and
the draft offer document with the AMF on behalf of the Offeror.
Natixis guarantees the content and the irrevocable nature of the
undertakings made by IAMGOLD France in connection with the
Offer.
IAMGOLD France directly holds as at the date of
this Draft Information Document in Response 56,242,153 Shares and
112,300,344 voting rights representing 90.00000016002% of the share
capital and 94.40% voting rights on the basis of a total number of
62,491,281 Shares and 118,993,793 voting rights of EURO Ressources
pursuant to Article 223-11 of the AMF General Regulations. The
Offer targets all Shares not directly and indirectly held by
IAMGOLD France, i.e. a maximum number of 6,249,128 Shares
representing 9.99999983998% of the share capital and 5.60% voting
rights of EURO Ressources.
The Buyout Offer will be open for a period of 10
trading days, on an indicative basis from 27 December 2023 to 10
January 2024 inclusive.
Subject to AMF conformity decision, at the end
of the Buyout Offer, the Squeeze-out will be implemented in
accordance with Article L.433-4, II of the French Monetary and
Financial Code. All Shares which will not have been tendered to the
Buyout Offer will be transferred to IAMGOLD France against payment
of consideration equal to the Offer Price (i.e. €3.50 per Share)
net of all costs.
2. Conclusions
of the independent expert on the fairness of the price offered for
EURO RESSOURCES shares in connection with the Offer
On October 6, 2023, board of directors of the
Company formed a special committee (the
"Committee") comprised of Mr. David Watkins as
chairman (independent director), Mr. Ian Smith (independent
director) and Mrs. Susanne Hermans (independent director), in
accordance with the provisions of Article 261-1 III of the AMF
General Regulations.
On October 17, 2023, the board of directors,
upon recommendation of the Committee and in accordance with the
provisions of articles 261-1-I 1° and 261-1-II of the General
Regulation of the AMF, and after a selection process, appointed
Sorgem Evaluation, represented by Mrs. Claire Karsenti, as
independent expert principally responsible for preparing a report
on the fairness of the financial terms of the Offer (the
"Independent Expert").
The Independent Expert has issued its report on
December 5, 2023. This report is reproduced in the draft
information document in response of the Company available on the
Company's web site (www.goldroyalties.com) and on the web site of
the AMF (www.amf-france.org).
Upon completion of its mission, the independent
expert acknowledged that the:
"With regard to the context of the Offer, our
conclusion is based on the following considerations:
- The Offer Price of
€3.50 represents a premium of 34.2% over the central value of
€2.61, and of 24.8% over the upper limit of the range (€2.80)
resulting from the application of the Net Asset Value per Sum of
the Parties method used as the principal valuation method.
- The Offer Price is
higher than the maximum share price recorded over the last 12
months prior to the announcement of the Offer. The premium in
relation to volume-weighted average share prices is between 6.7%
(spot price at November 13, 2023) and 17.9% (volume-weighted
average share price over the last 12 months). It is not possible to
identify the factors of the market or related to the fundamentals
of EURO which could explain the rise in EURO Ressources' share
price prior to the announcement of the Offer (the highest price,
€3.35, was reached on November 10, 2023).
- We have not been
informed of nor have we identified any Related-Party Agreements
within the meaning of Article 261-1 I of the AMF General
Regulations, paragraph 4.
In conclusion, we consider that the Offer Price
of €3.50 is fair for the holders of the Company's securities in the
context of the Buy-out Offer and the Squeeze Out."
3. Motivated
opinion of the board of directors of EURO RESSOURCES
In accordance with 231-19 of the AMF General
Regulations, the Board of Directors of the Company met on December
5, 2023, in particular to examine the proposed Offer and to issue a
motivated opinion on its merits and its consequences for the
Company and its shareholders (it being specified that the Company
has no employees).
Directors Tim Bradburn, Silviu Bursanescu,
Susanne Hermans, Ian Smith and David Watkins attended by video
conference at the meeting. Directors Dorena Quinn and Kathy Xu were
absent and excused. The Board of Directors unanimously approved,
without any opinion to the contrary being expressed, the
resolution, an extract of which is reproduced below:
"The Chairman, in his capacity as Chairman of
the special committee of the board of directors (the
"Committee"), presents the main steps and actions
carried out in preparation of the motivated opinion of the Board of
Directors in connection with the buy-out offer (offre publique de
retrait) of IAMGOLD France SAS (the "Offeror") on
all of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company that it
does not own followed by a squeeze out (retrait obligatoire) at a
price per share of €3.50 in accordance with the conditions set
forth in the draft offer document (the
"Offer"):
- The Committee held 7
meetings since its formation on October 6, 2023;
- On October 17, 2023,
the board of directors, upon recommendation of the Committee and in
accordance with the provisions of articles 261-1-I 1° and 261-1-II
of the General Regulation of the AMF, and after a selection
process, appointed Sorgem Evaluation, represented by Mrs. Claire
Karsenti, as independent expert principally responsible for
preparing a report on the fairness of the financial terms of the
Offer (the "Independent Expert");
- The Independent Expert
has attended 4 of such meetings, during which:
- the Independent Expert
has presented in detail its methodology to achieve its mission;
- the Independent Expert
has regularly presented the progress on its mission based on the
information made available to it including from management of the
Company to appreciate the assumptions of the Presenting Bank
regarding in particular the expected revenues from the Rosebel
Royalty and the Bomboré Silver Stream; to that effect the
Independent Expert provided the Committee with interim
conclusions;
- The Independent Expert
and the Presenting Bank met on several occasions between October
17, 2023 and November 13, 2023 in connection with the draft
valuation report and in order to answer the Independent Expert's
questions on the valuation assumptions used by the Presenting
Bank;
- From its appointment
the Independent Expert had also regular contacts, directly with the
members of the Committee and with the counsels of the Company;
- The Committee members
have reviewed the intentions of the Offeror stated in the draft
offer document prepared by the Offeror;
- The Independent Expert
provided the Committee with a draft report on November 29 2023
which has been reviewed by the Committee members in advance to a
meeting held on December 2 2023 during which the conclusions have
been presented by the Independent Expert;
- The Committee held a
meeting on December 3, 2023 to discuss, without the Independent
Expert attending, the work performed by the Independent Expert, her
report and conclusions and the terms of the recommendation to be
proposed to the board of directors;
- The Independent Expert
provided a final report on December 5 2023; the Committee held a
meeting on December 5, 2023 (in the presence of the Independent
Expert), during which it (i) reviewed the Independent Expert's
final report, (ii) finalized, in the form of a draft motivated
opinion, its recommendations to the board of directors concerning
its assessment of the merits of the Offer and its consequences for
the Company and its shareholders (being specified that the Company
does not have an employee), and (iii) finalized its review of the
draft information document in response of the Company and the draft
press release to be published by the Company when it is filed.
The Chairman asks Mrs. Claire Karsenti,
representing Sorgem Evaluation, Independent Expert appointed in
connection with the Offer, to present a summary of her work and the
main elements which has led to the conclusion that the Offer price
was fair.
The conclusions of the Independent Expert are as
follows:
"Sorgem Evaluation, represented by Claire
Karsenti, was appointed on October 17, 2023 as an independent
expert by the Board of Directors of EURO Ressources, recommended by
the Special Committee, to assess the fairness of the financial
terms of the Offer.
This appointment and this report fall within the
scope of article 261-1 I of the AMF General Regulations, paragraphs
1 and 2, and article 261-1 II.
With regard to the context of the Offer, our
conclusion is based on the following considerations:
- The Offer Price of
€3.50 represents a premium of 34.2% over the central value of
€2.61, and of 24.8% over the upper limit of the range (€2.80)
resulting from the application of the Net Asset Value per Sum of
the Parties method used as the principal valuation method.
- The Offer Price is
higher than the maximum share price recorded over the last 12
months prior to the announcement of the Offer. The premium in
relation to volume-weighted average share prices is between 6.7%
(spot price at November 13, 2023) and 17.9% (volume-weighted
average share price over the last 12 months). It is not possible to
identify the factors of the market or related to the fundamentals
of EURO which could explain the rise in EURO Ressources' share
price prior to the announcement of the Offer (the highest price,
€3.35, was reached on November 10, 2023).
- We have not been
informed of nor have we identified any Related-Party Agreements
within the meaning of Article 261-1 I of the AMF General
Regulations, paragraph 4.
In conclusion, we consider that the Offer Price
of €3.50 is fair for the holders of the Company's securities in the
context of the Buy-out Offer and the Squeeze Out."
The Independent Expert answers questions raised
by the directors.
The Chairman presents the report of the
Committee and the recommendation to the board of directors:
(a) after taking into
account:
- the draft offer
document prepared by the Offeror; and
- the report of
the Independent Expert;
(b) the Committee has
acknowledged that:
- according to the
information in draft offer document prepared by the Offeror, the
Offeror holds 90.00000016002% of the share capital and 94.37% of
the voting rights of the Company; on this basis, the Offeror
complies therefore with the provisions of the AMF Regulations to
implement the buyout offer and a squeeze-out;
- as part of the
Squeeze Out, the shares that are not held by the Offeror will be
transferred to it, in exchange for consideration equal to the Offer
price, i.e. 3.50 euros per share, net of all costs, independently
of any decision of the shareholders to sell their shares;
- the rationale of
the Offer as described by the Offeror is the following:
"In the current gold price environment IAMGOLD,
through IAMGOLD France, intends to focus on rationalizing its asset
portfolio, financing the Côté Gold project in Canada and addressing
the cost structure of all its operating mines.
The sale of the Rosebel Gold Mine has been
carried out to help finance IAMGOLD's Côté Gold project. As a
result, due to the royalty arrangement already in place, IAMGOLD
pays a royalty to the Company, the holder of the Rosebel Royalty,
on the basis of external information received from the present
owner of the Rosebel Gold Mine, and in its capacity as 90%
shareholder receives back 90% of such a royalty as dividend. The
Rosebel Royalty is the main asset of EURO Ressources and will come
to an end in 6 years. EURO Ressources would need to further invest
into its own business and make strategic acquisitions to pursue its
activities and continue to grow its business, in particular after
the Rosebel Royalty comes to an end.
There is a strategic misalignment between
IAMGOLD and the Company with investing in further royalties and
expanding the Company business. The strategic focus of IAMGOLD,
through IAMGOLD France, is not to further develop EURO Ressources
by acquiring new royalties, but rather to rationalize its asset
portfolio, simplify its group structures, help finance its present
mining projects and addressing the cost structure of all its
operating mines.
Obtaining full ownership of the Company, the
holder of the Rosebel Royalty, will improve the cost structure of
IAMGOLD on a consolidated basis. IAMGOLD, through IAMGOLD France,
also wishes to simplify and reduce the ongoing costs and holding
structure of the IAMGOLD group, and to eliminate the regulatory and
administrative constraints which result from the listed and public
reporting status of its subsidiary EURO Ressources.
The market of EURO Ressources shares is not
liquid and the Offer will also provide immediate liquidity to
shareholders."
- the conclusion
of the Independent Expert indicates that:
"[…] our conclusion is based on the following
considerations:
- The Offer Price of
€3.50 represents a premium of 34.2% over the central value of
€2.61, and of 24.8% over the upper limit of the range (€2.80)
resulting from the application of the Net Asset Value per Sum of
the Parties method used as the principal valuation method.
- The Offer Price is
higher than the maximum share price recorded over the last 12
months prior to the announcement of the Offer. The premium in
relation to volume-weighted average share prices is between 6.7%
(spot price at November 13, 2023) and 17.9% (volume-weighted
average share price over the last 12 months). It is not possible to
identify the factors of the market or related to the fundamentals
of EURO which could explain the rise in EURO Ressources' share
price prior to the announcement of the Offer (the highest price,
€3.35, was reached on November 10, 2023).
- We have not been
informed of nor have we identified any Related-Party Agreements
within the meaning of Article 261-1 I of the AMF General
Regulations, paragraph 4.
In conclusion, we consider that the Offer Price
of €3.50 is fair for the holders of the Company's securities in the
context of the Buy-out Offer and the Squeeze Out."
- given the
statement of the Offeror regarding its intention not to further
develop the Company by acquiring new royalties:
- the Offer represents an
opportunity for the shareholders of the Company to benefit from an
immediate liquidity on their full participation by tendering their
shares to the Offer, such liquidity being offered at an attractive
price with respect to the premium offered compared to the value of
the Company resulting from the multi-criteria methods of valuation
such as specified in the report of the Independent Expert;
especially the price offered results in a premium of 34.2% over the
central value of €2.61, and of 24.8% over the upper limit of the
range (€2.80) resulting from the application of the principal
valuation method used by the Independent Expert (Net Asset Value
per Sum of the Parties method);
- the trading of the
shares of the Company on the Segment B of Euronext PARIS will no
longer be relevant as there will be no use of the financial market
for financing the development of the Company;
- the delisting of
the shares of the Company on the Segment B of Euronext PARIS will
reduce the operating costs of the Company, by cancelling the
related regulatory and administrative constrains and the
requirements in terms of permanent and ongoing disclosures imposed
by the financial regulations;
(c) the Committee:
- has determined
that the Offer is made within the interest of the Company and its
shareholders and that it entails a satisfying opportunity of sale
for the shareholders which intend to benefit from an immediate
liquidity, and
- has determined
therefore to recommend to the board of directors to issue a
favorable opinion regarding the Offer.
Discussion amongst the Directors ensued. In
response to a question, Ms. Karsenti advised that the Autorité des
marchés financiers (the “AMF”) did not prefer one
method of valuation over another but rather considered what the
most appropriate valuation method would be given a particular
company’s circumstances. Following brief further discussion, upon
motion duly made and seconded, and carried unanimously, the
following resolution was approved by the Board of Directors:
WHEREAS, after taking into
account:
A. the draft offer
document prepared by the Offeror filed with the AMF on November 14,
2023;
B. the report from
the Independent Expert, prepared pursuant to article 262-1 of the
AMF General Regulations;
C. the
recommendation of the Committee; and
D. the draft
information document in response by the Company to the Offer which
shall have to be filed with the AMF in accordance with article
231-26 of the AMF General Regulations of the AMF;
RESOLVED THAT the board of
directors is of the opinion that, for the same motives exposed by
the Committee as part of its recommendation, the Offer is made
within the interest of the Company and its shareholders and that it
entails a satisfying opportunity of sale for the shareholders which
intend to benefit from an immediate liquidity, and that therefore
it recommends to the shareholders to tender their shares to the
Offer initiated by the Offeror.
This resolution and the related motivated
opinion were delivered unanimously by the members present, being
recalled that among them:
▪ the independent
directors, all members of the Committee, were each invited to cast
their vote first, and all agreed with the recommendations of the
Committee and voted in favor of the proposed Offer;
▪ the directors in
a potential conflict of interest situation, namely Mr. Bursanescu
and Mr. Bradburn, then were invited to cast their votes, and all
declared that they agreed with the recommendations of the above
members, and thus voted favorably on the proposed Offer."
4. Availability
of the documents in connection with the Offer
The draft information document in response is
available on the website of EURO Ressources (www.goldroyalties.com)
and on the website of the AMF (www.amf-france.org) and copies of
the Draft information document in response may be obtained free of
charge upon request to EURO Ressources, 23, rue du Roule – 75001 –
Paris.
The draft offer document from IAMGOLD is
available on the web sites of the AMF (www.amf-france.org) and
IAMGOLD Corporation (www.iamgold.com), and may be obtained without
cost upon simple request to IAMGOLD France : 1830 Route de
Montjoly, 97354 Remire-Montjoly, or to Natixis : 7, promenade
Germaine Sablon 75013 Paris.
Pursuant to article 231-28 of the AMF General
Regulations, information disclosure relating to the legal,
accounting, financial, and other characteristics of EURO Ressources
shall be filed with the AMF and made available to the public under
the same conditions as the information note in response, no later
than the day preceding the opening of the Offer.
A press release shall be made to inform the
public of the availability of this information.
About EURO
EURO is a French company whose main assets are a
royalty on the Rosebel Gold Mine production in Suriname (the
“Rosebel Royalty”), a royalty on the Paul Isnard concessions, a
silver stream from a subsidiary of Orezone Gold Corporation
(“Orezone”) and marketable securities. Rosebel Gold Mines is
95%-owned and operated by Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. The existing
royalty on Rosebel held by EURO will remain an obligation of
IAMGOLD. The royalty on the Paul Isnard concessions is a net
smelter returns production royalty on future production of the Paul
Isnard concessions and an area of interest surrounding the
concessions in French Guiana, owned by the Montagne d’Or project
holding company which 44.99% is owned by Orea Mining Corp.
(“Orea”). The silver stream entitles EURO to receive 50% of the
payable silver production over the life of mine on Orezone’s
Bombore mine, located in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
EURO has approximately 62.5 million shares
outstanding. At November 30, 2023, IAMGOLD France S.A.S. (“IAMGOLD
France”), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of IAMGOLD, owned 90%
of all issued outstanding shares of EURO. As at November 30, 2023,
IAMGOLD France held 56,242,153 shares representing 112,300,344
voting rights or 94.40% of the voting rights of EURO.
Statements Regarding Forward-Looking
Information: Some statements in this news release are
forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that
forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve
risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance
that future developments affecting the Company will be those
anticipated by management.
Not for distribution to United States newswire
services or for dissemination in the United States. The securities
referred to herein have not been registered under the United States
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and may
not be offered or sold in the United States or to a U.S. person
absent registration, or an applicable exemption from the
registration requirements of the Securities Act.
Additional information relating to
EURO Ressources S.A. is available on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. Further requests for information should be addressed
to:
Tidiane BarryDirecteur GénéralTel: +1 450 677 0040Email:
tbarry@euroressources.net |
Sophie
HalléDirecteur Général DéléguéTel: +1 450 677 0040Email :
shalle@euroressources.net |
- PR 23-11EN 2023 12 06 EURO - Reply Note
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