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Takeover bid made unconditional

Avoca Resources has made its takeover bid for Dioro Exploration unconditional in its latest push to take control of the junior mining company, the company said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange

Avoca, who last week increased its unsolicited offer of one share for every 2.82 Dioro shares to one for 2.4 shares, said it had made the deal unconditional for all Dioro shareholders who accepted the offer.

The board of Dioro Exploration has urged its shareholders to take no action in relation to the offer.

Dioro shareholders who accepted the offer would be issued with Avoca shares within 10 business days of receipt of their valid acceptances, or 10 business days from today for those shareholders who had already accepted the offer, Avoca said.

In the statement Avoca also said that Dioro’s share price could fall sharply if the takeover deal did not go through and that another bidder was highly unlikely.

“The prospects of another bidder emerging are low given Avoca’s substantial existing holding (which will now increase) and the fact that no other offer has arisen despite Dioro’s repeated statements of ‘ongoing discussions’ over a lengthy period,” Avoca said.

Avoca also used the statement to once again disagree with KPMG’s independent valuation of Dioro, calling the $1.88 per share value “out of touch with reality.”

Late last week the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) forced KPMG to highlight that its valuation for Dioro was 10 times higher than takeover prices usually used in Australian corporate takeovers.

KPMG also acknowledged that Avoca’s $60 million takeover bid for Dioro included a premium that “exceeds the range of premia over pre-bid prices typically observed within the Australian market.”

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