Avoca Resources has increased its takeover offer for Dioro Exploration, the company announced to the Australian Securities Exchange.
Avoca said it has increased its offer of one Avoca share for every 2.82 Dioro shares to one for every 2.4, valuing Dioro at $0.75 a share.
The increased offer represents a premium of 19% to the closing price of $0.63 for Dioro shares on Friday July 3, but falls well short of the recent expert report from KPMG which valued Dioro at $1.89 a share.
Avoca has attacked the valuation as too high, saying it has “no meaningful correlation” to Dioro’s pre-bid price.
The new offer also extends the deal’s expiration date by a week from July 14 to July 21.
According to Avoca chairman Robert Reynolds, the offer is a positive for both parties.
“As Dioro’s largest shareholder with a 14.95% shareholding, Avoca is in a unique position to achieve a positive outcome for both Dioro and Avoca shareholders upon successful completion of our offer,” he said.
“Both sets of shareholders will then participate in a mid-tier Australian gold producer of scale and with significant growth potential.”
Dioro has urged shareholders to reject Avoca’s bid since it was first made in May.