Ampella Mining shares have bounced off their two-year lows this week, after the Africa-focused gold miner announced it had commenced a targeted sales process.
Its share price was up 8.5 cents today to $1.135, after slumping to a two-year low of 97 cents at the end of last week.
Perth-based Ampella announced yesterday it had instructed its financial and legal advisers, Gresham Advisory Partners and Macquarie Capital, to determine whether a number of expressions of interest from prominent international gold companies could result in a takeover proposal attractive enough for it to accept.
“Ampella is in a rapid growth phase and we did not want our board and management team distracted by a number of separate approaches,” chairman Peter Mansell said.
“We therefore instructed our advisers to run a targeted process as quickly as possible to test the level of corporate interest.
“If we receive a proposal that is sufficiently attractive to recommend to shareholders we will move forward with it
“If we do not, we will shut down further discussions and move forward aggressively with our exploration and development program.”
Mr Mansell said Ampella would not disclose information surrounding third-party discussions until a final position is known, likely in around two to three months.
Ampella said yesterday it had approved $25.3 million in spending on regional exploration in Burkina Faso, West Africa, following its recently-completed $45 million capital raising.
The company said its exploration programs would focus on the Batie West gold project.
The company also announced Evan Cranston had resigned from its board to pursue other personal business interests.
Mr Cranston has served as corporate director for the past three years.
