Ecuador-focused miner SolGold (LSE: SOLG) revealed on Friday it had rejected a a preliminary and conditional takeover offer from China’s Jiangxi Copper, the second received in less than a week.
Shares in the gold and copper mining firm jumped 14%, closing at 29.55 pence each on Friday in London. SolGold has a market capitalization of £887.38 million (C$1.65 billion).
Jiangxi Copper, already SolGold’s largest shareholder with a 12% stake, proposed 26 pence per share. The miner’s board had unanimously rejected a separate non-binding proposal from the Chinese group on Nov. 23.
“The SolGold board remains confident in SolGold’s standalone prospects,” the company said in a statement. It advised shareholders to take no action while it considers next steps.
The renewed approach comes as copper assets draw heightened attention amid forecasts of a looming supply crunch tied to global electrification, a backdrop that has fuelled a wave of attempted deals including BHP’s failed bid for Anglo American (LSE: AAL) last week.
Prime takeover target
SolGold has long been viewed as a potential target for major Western miners such as BHP (ASX: BHP) and Newmont (NYSE: NEM), which hold stakes of 10.4% and 10.3% respectively. Interest from these majors cooled after disputes over funding the Cascabel copper-gold project, in northern Ecuador, and revisions to its scope.
Under the U.K. Takeover Code, Jiangxi has until 17:00 GMT on Dec. 26 to declare whether it will make a firm offer, SolGold said.
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