From the AFR:Listed miner Silver Lake Resources lobbed a cash...

From the AFR:

Listed miner Silver Lake Resources lobbed a cash and scrip bid worth $732 million for St Barbara’s Leonora assets, but was rejected by the target whose board has stuck with Genesis Minerals.

Raleigh Finlayson’s recut deal for St Barbara faces competition from a rival bidder trying to get in. Silver Lake, which is being advised by RBC Capital Markets and Corrs Chambers Westgarth, split its offer into $326 million cash and 327.1 million shares. It reckons the proposal was a 28 per cent premium to the base consideration under the Genesis deal, yet it didn’t get enough engagement from the target board.

Sources said once adjusted for tax and break fees, Silver Lake’s bid would end up 10 to 11 per cent higher. And that its rationale for bidding was based off strategic value in bringing together other gold ore resources, instead of immediate synergies.The miner reckons it only needed two-weeks due diligence to turn up a binding offer. And that ST Barbara’s two largest shareholders – L1 Capital and Baker Steel Capital Management – supported the board granting it due diligence to do so.

In the other corner, Genesis Minerals has a deal to buy the Leonora assets for $370 million cash, 147.8 million Genesis shares (worth $170 million at the time of deal announcement), and a contingent payment of another 52.2 million shares. All up that was worth $600 million, when the deal was announced.

As a part of the deal, St Barbara agreed to “no talk”, “no due diligence” clauses but retained customary “fiduciary out” exceptions.

Should Silver Lake get due diligence and lob a bid, its rival bidder Genesis Minerals would have matching rights under terms agreed on April 17.

St Barbara is being advised by Macquarie Capital. Its shares were paused at 2:35pm. Genesis Minerals is being advised by Sternship Advisers. Neither company has yet responded.