May 31 2014
Canada Fluorspar Inc. and Golden Gate Capital announced today that Golden Gate Capital has successfully completed the acquisition of Canada Fluorspar Inc., a specialty mineral resource company based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Canada Fluorspar will remain headquartered in St. John’s and led by the current management team.
“Canada Fluorspar represents a unique opportunity to develop a world-class fluorspar producer,” said Rajeev Amara, a Managing Director of Golden Gate Capital. “We look forward to partnering with management to reestablish fluorspar production in Newfoundland and execute on the company’s strategy to become a reliable supplier of high quality fluorspar to global customers.”
“We are excited to work with Golden Gate Capital to accelerate development of the project,” said Lindsay Gorrill, CEO of Canada Fluorspar. Mr. Gorrill also said, “The work done to date has validated the potential of the deposits, and our talented team is excited to capitalize on the opportunity to commercialize these resources. Golden Gate Capital’s mining acumen, financial resources, and strategic vision for the project will enable Canada Fluorspar to become a sustainable platform for long term fluorspar supply.”
As previously announced, the transaction proceeded by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). Pursuant to the plan of arrangement, CF Acquisition Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of investment funds managed by Golden Gate Capital, acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Canada Fluorspar at a price of $0.35 per common share, payable in cash. As a result of the acquisition, the common shares will be delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange and Canada Fluorspar will apply to the applicable securities regulators to cease to be a reporting issuer.
Cormark acted as financial advisor, Arena Advisors, L.L.C. advised on the transaction and Stikeman Elliott LLP acted as legal counsel to the special committee of Canada Fluorspar. Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP served as legal advisor to Golden Gate Capital.