SBM-Atlantic Gold Acquisition Analysis, page-3

I think my reaction to the acquisition is still the initial facepalm. The management clearly is not great at making bids. Allied Mines back in 2012 was an overvalued acquisition, and in that case, the assets took much longer to get right. The exception is the Gold Ridge mine which was an albatross around their neck. They had $382m cash balance and now they are turning into a marginally net cash company. I cannot say I am too impressed by the short term implications of it. The long term implication of this acquisition is logical. Personally, I wouldn't pay anything more than $400m for the company, but would Atlantic sell themselves at that price? Probably not.

Then it begs the question if they are willing to pay $768m for Atlantic Gold, why not buy something much closer to home, like Red 5? The King of the Hills mine that they had sold to Saracen back in 2015 is now looking to be a bonanza. And Red 5 currently has an EV of $155m or so.

I am bewildered, though I will not for a second write off St Barbara because of this. But I still have these questions on my mind.