All directors of Perth-based Cardinal Resources have accepted a takeover proposal from China’s Shandong Gold, which recently raised its offer price to $1.075 per share.
It comes nearly three weeks after Shandong assumed control of Cardinal, having secured more than 50 per cent of the company's shares.
Cardinal, which has a market capitalisation of about $593 million, was the subject of a nine-month bidding war between Shandong and Russian mining giant Nordgold.
Offers for Cardinal during that period more than doubled, with both Shandong and Nordgold having made $1.05 per share offers late last year.
Cardinal had been reluctant to accept a bid from Nordgold, noting that a deal with the Russian miner could be subject to regulatory issues, but continued to endorse offers from Shandong.
Nordgold pulled out of the race after the Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed business amended its offer price to $1.075 per Cardinal share.
Cardinal, whose flagship asset is the 5.1 million-ounce Namdini gold project in Ghana, had also received two late proposals, from a Ghanaian mining contractor and Emirati-Russian joint venture.
Ghana’s Engineers & Planners on December 30 said it would not proceed with its takeover proposal, having offered to buy Cardinal for $1.05 per share.
The Dongshan Investments JV had offered $1.20 per share, though Cardinal said it had received no formal proposal from the business that was “capable of acceptance” and advised shareholders to take no action towards the offer.
The Cardinal board continues to recommend shareholders accept the Shandong offer, which will expire on January 19.
Cardinal’s share price closed up 1 per cent to trade at $1.08.
