Agnico extends unsweetened Riddarhyttan bid

Agnico-Eagle Mines (AGE-T, AEM-N) has extended its all-stock offer for Riddarhyttan Resources after receiving just 35.6% of the Swedish gold explorers stock.

The offer, which has so far netted just shy of 37.7 million shares, will now expire on Sept. 23, two weeks later than originally planned.

Combined with its pre-existing 14% stake, Agnico now holds around 49.6%, or about 52.4 million shares, of Riddarhyttan.

Aside from the extended deadline, Agnico’s bid remains unchanged at 0.1137 of one of its own shares for each share of Riddarhyttan. The company has repeatedly said it will not sweeten the offer.

At the end of trading in New York on Sept. 12, the offer valued Riddarhyttan at 12.09 Swedish crowns per share; the shares ended at 11.75 on the day. Agnico-Eagle originally launched its bid on May 12.

The offer is conditional on Agnico’s acquiring at least 90% of Riddarhyttan’s outstanding shares and on regulatory and governmental approval. The

While Riddarhyttan’s board continues to recommend Agnico’s bid, it also says it is considered its alternatives in the event that the bid fails, though no alternative suitors have yet emerged.

Riddarhyttan’s key asset is the 17.3 sq.-km Suurikuusikko disseminated gold sulphide project, 885 km north of Helsinki, Finland.

In June, Riddarhyttan updated Suurikuusikko’s indicated resource to 10.4 million tonnes grading 5.8 grams gold per tonne, for 1.95 million contained ounces. Another 7.3 million tonnes of inferred material runs 4.5 grams gold. The estimates employ a cutoff grade of 2 grams gold.

Riddarhyttan had planned to table the results of an ongoing preliminary feasibility study of Suurikuusikko this summer, but owing partly to positive exploration results the study has been delayed to allow for a revision to include upgraded resources.

Agnico has been working on Suurikuusikko for the past three years.

Riddarhyttan says if Agnico fails in its bid, it would be in immediate need of further equity or debt financing in order to continue exploration and development at Suurikuusikko.