St Barbara (ASX:SBM) to buy Bardoc Gold (ASX:BDC)

• St Barbara (SBM) agrees to buy all the shares in Bardoc Gold (BDC) at a value of 53 cents each, valuing Bardoc at $157 million
• Under the deal, Bardoc shareholders receive 0.3604 new St Barbara shares for each Bardoc shares owned
• St Barbara Managing Director and CEO Craig Jetson says the company has been focusing on expanding its footprint within the Leonora Province
• The deal sees St Barbara shareholders owning about 87 per cent and Bardoc shareholders will own around 13 per cent of all issued St Barbara shares
• On the market, St Barbara is in the grey and trading at $1.47 per share, while Bardoc was up 18.3 per cent and trading at 48.3 cents per share

St Barbara (SBM) has agreed to purchase all the shares in Bardoc Gold (BDC) in a deal that values the latter at $157 million.

Under the deal, Bardoc shareholders receive 0.3604 new St Barbara shares for each Bardoc share owned.

The deal values Bardoc at $157 million, with St Barbara purchasing the shares at 53 cents each, a 29.2 per cent premium to the closing price of Bardoc shares on December 17.

St Barbara was seen as the logical owner of the Bardoc Gold Project due to the easy access to its Leonora processing plant.

The deal sees St Barbara shareholders owning about 87 per cent, and Bardoc shareholders will own around 13 per cent of all issued St Barbara shares.

St Barbara Managing Director and CEO Craig Jetson said the company has been focusing on expanding its footprint within the Leonora Province.

“The location of the Bardoc Gold Project, situated near the rail line and highway to the south of Leonora, brings the Bardoc ore bodies within economic haulage range of our Leonora processing plant,” he said.

“Combined with our existing regional opportunities such as Tower Hill and Harbour Lights, the acquisition of Bardoc facilitates the accelerated delivery of a multi-decade province of satellite mines feeding the Leonora processing plant.

“This provides St Barbara with significant operating flexibility and value as part of the Leonora Province Plan.”

Bardoc Gold Chairman Tony Leibowitz said the deal is “a very positive outcome for Bardoc shareholders”.

“Considering that we only commenced the strategic review just over two months ago, we have achieved a great deal in a very short space of time, and I would firstly like to acknowledge the hard work of the Bardoc team, our key advisers and also the extremely professional manner in which St Barbara has approached this transaction,” he said.

“We undertook the review in light of the significant challenges confronting Bardoc as a junior developer aiming to bring a new project on stream in the face of cost pressures in the WA resource sector.”

On the market, St Barbara was in the grey and trading at $1.47 per share, while Bardoc was up 18.3 per cent and is trading at 48.3 cents per share at 10:04 am AEDT.