St Barbara knocks back Silver Lake, again

St Barbara chair Kerry Gleeson has lambasted Silver Lake for demanding what she has called ‘a disruptive and unrealistic two-week due diligence exercise’.

Ms Gleeson’s pointed comments came in response to a second offer from Silver Lake Resources, lobbed late on Friday afternoon, to buy the company’s St Barbara assets for $370 million cash and 327.1 million in shares.

In handing down the board’s decision to reject the offer, the chair contrasted the offer on the table from Raleigh Finlayson’s Genesis Minerals, which she said was fully documented and fully funded.

“Silver Lake’s latest proposal would still require termination of the Binding Genesis Transaction before the satisfaction of conditions attached to the Silver Lake proposal, including a Silver Lake shareholder vote,” she said in a statement.

The company also sought to ‘correct the record’ on Silver Lake’s claims that St Barbara and its advisers had not meaningfully engaged on a deal.  

St Barbara said Silver Lake had approached the company twice, when it was also in talks with Red 5, and that Silver Lake failed to put in an indicative offer when invited to do so.

“Silver Lake was given the opportunity to make a non-binding indicative offer in September last year and it did not do so,” Ms Gleeson said.

“Instead Silver Lake has waited until the eleventh hour to demand that St Barbara entertain a disruptive and unrealistic two week due diligence exercise without any indication that Silver Lake shareholders would ever approve the proposal themselves.”

Silver Lake, who are yet to issue a response, first made its proposal for St Barbara public earlier this month. That offer was also knocked back.

On the market, St Barbara shares were off 3.31 per cent to trade at 58 cents.

Silver Lake shares were up 2.42 per cent to trade at $1.06.