Yintai acquisition of Osino on track

The transaction to acquire all the outstanding common shares of Canadian company Osino Resources by a subsidiary of Chinese company Yintai Gold remains on track to close in the first half of 2024.

The deal is valued at around C$368m (N$5,5 billion), or C$1,90 for each Osino share.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by Osino president and chief executive Heye Daun on Wednesday, announcing a special meeting of security holders.

The statement also gave an update on satisfying the conditions for the completion of the agreement, including submitting to and applying at the Namibian Competition Commission.

Yintai Gold reached an agreement with Osino Resources that will enable it to take ownership of Osino’s gold assets in Namibia, including the Twin Hills gold project in central Namibia, as well as exploration projects Ondundu and Eureka.

According to the statement, the board unanimously recommends that security holders vote for the arrangement resolution at a special meeting to be held virtually on 29 April.

“Security holders will be asked to consider and, if deemed advisable, to pass a special resolution approving the previously announced plan of arrangement pursuant to which 1466331 BC Ltd, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Yintai Gold Co Ltd, will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Osino,” Daun said.

Giving an update on satisfying the conditions for the completion of the arrangement, Daun said Osino has received a favourable interim approval order in respect of the arrangement from the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Canada.

“The application for a merger approval under the Namibian Competition Act has been filed with the Namibian Competition Commission and Yintai has notified Osino that it has submitted filings with the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China in connection with the required Chinese regulatory approvals with respect to the agreement,” he said.

Prior to entering the Yintai agreement, Osino terminated its arrangement with Dundee Precious Metals (DPM), which was reached on 17 December 2023.

Osino later received a binding proposal from Yintai and notified DPM that this offer constituted a “superior proposal”.

At the time, Yintai president Xingong Ou said: “Twin Hills represents a unique opportunity to add a high-quality gold development asset to our portfolio in a stable and mining-friendly jurisdiction.

“The project provides the foundation for our future production profile with production targeted for.”

Since the discovery of Twin Hills Gold Project in central Namibia in August 2019, Osino has completed more than 250 000m of drilling and has completed a suite of specialist technical studies.

The studies describe a technically simple and economically robust open-pit gold operation with a 13-year mine life and average annual gold production of over 162 000oz per annum.

– email: matthew@namibian.com