Equinox Limited, owner of Greenfield Lumwana Copper Mine in Zambia, plans to declare its takeover offer for Citadel Resource Group Limited as part of its expansion program.
Citadel is an emerging listed base metals and gold company with a portfolio of development and exploration assets located in Saudi Arabia within the highly prospective Arabian Shield minerals province. Citadel's flagship asset is Jabal Sayid, a copper and gold project located in Jeddah the commercial capital of Saudi Arabia.
Mr Craig Williams president & CEO of Equinox said that his company would declare its takeover interest if it receives an interest in Citadel shares of more than 50% on or before 5:00 PM Australian Time on December 16th 2010.
He said that Equinox currently holds an interest in Citadel of 20.5% which includes acceptances recently received from all of Citadel's directors who hold shares and certain key Citadel shareholders these acceptances are irrevocable and cannot be withdrawn.
Mr Williams said that Equinox believed that it was in the interests of all shareholders for the offer to be completed as soon as possible. The Jabal Sayid project is currently at a critical stage in its development and an extended offer period may impact the project timetable and increase the risk of escalation in project costs.
He said that the completion of the offer will allow the company to apply its technical expertise and financial strength to optimize development plans at the earliest possible stage.
Mr Williams said that we believe our offer is very attractive to Citadel shareholders. Citadel's assets are an excellent fit with Equinox's existing operations and the combination of our technical expertise and financial strength will allow us to create value for all shareholders. We encourage all Citadel shareholders to accept our Offer as soon as possible.
He said that the Citadel board in its target statement dated November 25th 2010 reiterated its unanimous support for Equinox's offer in the absence of a superior proposal.
(Filed by Mr Kapembwa Sinkamba SteelGuru Correspondent Zambia)
