U.S. firm offers to buy Canadian miner Dominion Diamond for $1.1B
by The Canadian Press
Toronto-headquartered company operates two mines in Northwest Territories, one through a joint venture with Rio Tinto
The company’s Ekati Diamond Mine in Northwest Territories. PHOTO: Dominion Diamond Corp.
TORONTO—Shares of Dominion Diamond Corp. are soaring in pre-market trade following the weekend disclosure that Canadian mining company is the target of a takeover offer reported to be worth about US$1.1 billion.
The offer was originally made privately on Feb. 21 by The Washington Co. but only revealed by both companies on March 19.
The Montana-based private company is offering US$13.50 per share cash for the Canadian company.
That’s 36 per cent above the price for Dominion Diamond shares on Friday and 53 per cent above their closing price Thursday, when Dominion Diamond broke off talks with Washington Co. and issued revised guidance for the current year.
With two hours to go before the open of North American stock markets this morning, Dominion Diamond shares traded at US$12.51, up a further US$2.59 from the Friday close in New York.
Dominion Diamond has its head office in Toronto and its mines in Northwest Territories. It operates the Ekati mine and owns a 40 per cent stake in the Diavik mine through a joint venture with Rio Tinto PLC.
