Shareholders of Africa-focused Papillon Resources voted almost unanimously in favour of a $615 million takeover by Canadian-based B2Gold at a scheme meeting held this morning.
Under the arrangement, B2Gold said it would acquire all of the issued shares in Papillon, merging the two companies into an entity that will be focused on further developing Papillon’s Fekola project in Mali, optimising its existing Masbate, Limon and La Liberated mines, and completing construction of its Otjikoto mine in Namibia.
Of Papillon shareholders, 99.5 per cent voted in favour of the takeover.
The two companies entered into a definitive merger agreement in June, whereby Papillon shareholders would receive 0.661 B2Gold shares for every Papillon share held.
The offer translated to a purchase price of about $1.72 per Papillon share.
A second court hearing is scheduled to occur on September 22, whereby Papillon will seek final approval of the scheme arrangement.
If approved, the companies expect the new B2Gold shares to be tradable on the TSX and NYSE in late September.
Papillon shares closed 0.3 per cent lower at $1.52 per share.