Mourant Ozannes Guernsey corporate team has advised Endeavour Mining Corporation (Endeavour), a public corporation incorporated in the Cayman Islands and listed on the TSX in Canada, on its acquisition of Avnel Gold Mining Limited (Avnel), a Guernsey TSX-listed company. The takeover was completed by way of a Guernsey scheme of arrangement (the Scheme).
Endeavour is an intermediate gold producer, focused on developing a portfolio of high quality mines in the West-African region. It operates five mines in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali and Ghana. Avnel is a gold mining and exploration company with operations in southwestern Mali.
Mourant Ozannes partner Caroline Chan led the team in Guernsey advising Endeavour, assisted by counsel Alex Davies and associate Alana Nisbet. Endeavour was also advised by Linklaters LLP in London, who managed the transaction, and Stikeman Elliott LLP in Canada.
The transaction valued Avnel at US$122 million, with the offer price representing a 48% premium to the closing price of Avnel shares on the TSX on the last trading day prior to the announcement of the Scheme (being 28 June 2017) and a 52% premium based on the 20-day volume-weighted average price of Avnel shares on the TSX on the same date. Under the Scheme, Avnel shareholders received 0.0187 shares in the capital of Endeavour for each Avnel Scheme share held.