Yes-this is a major dilution for existing GML shareholders....

Yes-this is a major dilution for existing GML shareholders.

Gateway Deal Leaves Existing GML Shareholders With Just a Slice of the Pie

If you’re a Gateway Mining (ASX: GML) shareholder, you might have just experienced one of the more “creative” forms of value transfer on the ASX — and not in your favour.

In a deal announced on 30th June 2025, GML is issuing 1.5 billion new shares (via convertible preference shares) to acquire Strickland Metals' (ASX: STK) Yandal Gold Project, priced at $0.03 per share — a hefty $45 million valuation based on VWAP.

Here’s the kicker:
Over 78% of GML’s post-deal shares will be owned by Strickland and its shareholders. GML shareholders — the ones who’ve supported the company up to this point — are left with just 21% of the expanded company.

It gets better (or worse):

63% of GML will be handed directly to Strickland shareholders, via an in-specie distribution.

15.7% will be retained by Strickland itself.

You, the long-term GML holder? Your stake just got heavily diluted.

Yes, GML gains a decent gold asset (8.17Mt @ 1.52g/t for ~400,400oz Au), but it comes at the cost of control, ownership, and equity — and it’s being delivered largely to investors who've never owned GML until now.

So, Who Won?

STK Shareholders: Big winners. They receive shares in a company they never invested in, now owning the majority of its register.

GML Shareholders: Left with less than a quarter of the company they funded and supported — and no say in the deal before it happened.

The Takeaway

This transaction might be dressed up as a growth move, but the structure tells another story:
existing GML shareholders have been diluted and sidelined — without even a vote.

At the very least, it's a lesson in watching who really benefits in "strategic acquisitions."