Acquisition Dia Met Completed
BHP Billiton Limited
1 November 2001
BHP Billiton Limited is issuing this announcement to fulfil disclosure
obligations arising from its secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange.
The text of this release is identical to that issued by BHP Billiton Plc
earlier.
Date: 1 November 2001
Number: 26/01
BHP BILLITON ACQUISITION OF DIA MET COMPLETED
BHP Billiton today announced that it had successfully completed its
acquisition of Dia Met Minerals Ltd (Dia Met) following the purchase of all
outstanding Class A subordinate voting shares (Class A shares) and Class B
multiple voting shares (Class B shares), for C$21.00 per share. The
acquisition of outstanding shares was completed at the same price as BHP
Billiton's previous offers and values Dia Met's equity at C$648 million.
At the expiry of the offers on 3 July 2001, BHP Billiton had received
acceptances for 98.6 per cent of the Class A shares and 88.7 per cent of the
Class B shares. All conditions of the offers, including a minimum acceptance
of 75 per cent of both classes of shares, were met at that time.
BHP Billiton subsequently exercised its statutory right to compulsorily
acquire the remaining Class A shares and completed the purchase of these
shares on 20 September 2001. In addition, BHP Billiton proposed the
amalgamation of Dia Met with the acquiring entity, Tortilla Acquisition Inc.
The amalgamation was approved by an order of the British Columbia Supreme
Court, with an effective date of 30 October 2001. As a result of the
amalgamation, the former holders of Class B shares will receive a cash payment
of C$21 per share.
BHP Billiton Minerals Chief Development Officer Marcus Randolph said: 'The
EKATITM Diamond Mine continues to be a great success for BHP Billiton and the
acquisition of Dia Met ensures we will have ongoing access to the rough
diamonds to strengthen our marketing activities through the EKATITM and
AuriasTM brands. We are currently witnessing strong demand for these branded
products.'
Dia Met is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company with a
primary focus on diamonds. The company's principal asset is a 29 per cent
joint venture interest in the EkatiTM Diamond Mine, Canada's first commercial
diamond mine. BHP Billiton is the operator of the EkatiTM Diamond Mine and
the acquisition of Dia Met increases its interest in the joint venture from 51
per cent to 80 per cent. Mr Charles Fipke and Mr Stewart Blusson own 10 per
cent of the joint venture respectively.
* * * *
Further information can be found on our Internet site:
http://www.bhpbilliton.com
Australia United Kingdom
Dr. Robert Porter, Investor Ariane Gentil, Manager
Relations Communications
Tel: + 61 3 9609 3540 Tel: +44 20 7747 3977
Mobile: +61 419 587 456 Mobile: + 44 7881 518 715
email: Ariane.Gentil@bhpbilliton.com
email: Robert.Porter@bhpbilliton.com
Mandy Frostick, Media Relations
Tel: +61 3 9609 4157
Mobile: +61 419 546 245
email:Mandy.J.Frostick@bhpbilliton.com
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Michael Campbell, Investor & Media Francis McAllister, Investor
Relations Relations
Tel: +27 11 376 3360 Tel: +1 713 961 8625
Mobile: +27 82 458 2587 Mobile: +1 713 480 3699
email: email:
Michael.J.Campbell@bhpbilliton.com Francis.R.McAllister@bhpbilliton.com
BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077 BHP Billiton Plc Registration
Registered in Australia number 3196209
Registered Office: 600 Bourke Street Registered in England and Wales
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The BHP Billiton Group is headquartered in Australia
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