BHP Acquires Dia Met Mins Ltd
BHP Limited
21 June 2001
Date 21 June 2001
Number 50/01
BHP ACQUIRES DIA MET MINERALS LTD
BHP Limited (BHP) today announced that it had successfully acquired 98.2 per
cent of the Class A subordinate voting shares (Class A shares) and 84.9 per
cent of the Class B multiple voting shares (Class B shares) of Dia Met
Minerals Ltd. (Dia Met), for C$21.00 per share. This offer price values Dia
Met at A$813 million.
All conditions of BHP's offers, including a minimum acceptance of 75 per cent
of both classes of shares have been met.
The deposit period under the offers will now be extended from 6.00 pm (Pacific
Standard Time) on 20 June 2001, to 6.00 pm (Pacific Standard Time) on 3 July
2001, in order to give shareholders further time to deposit their Class A and
Class B shares to the offers.
After expiry of the deposit period, BHP intends to exercise its statutory
right to compulsorily acquire the remaining Class A shares, having
successfully deposited over 90 per cent of this class.
Following this, BHP may seek a meeting of Dia Met shareholders to consider a '
going private' transaction, whereby BHP will acquire any Class B shares not
deposited under the offers.
President BHP Minerals Ron McNeilly said: 'The EKATI TM Diamond Mine continues
to be a great success for BHP and we are delighted to increase our ownership
in this asset.
'We have recently announced substantial polished branding initiatives in
Australia and North America and the acquisition of Dia Met will ensure that
BHP continues to have access to the rough diamonds to support its branding
programs.'
Dia Met is a publicly traded 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 EKATI TM Diamond Mine, Canada's
first commercial diamond mine.
BHP is the operator of the EKATI TM Diamond Mine and owns a 51 per cent joint
venture interest. Charles Fipke and Stewart Blusson own 10 per cent of the
joint venture respectively.
BHP previously announced that it has received all necessary regulatory
approvals to complete the offers, following clearance by the Belgian
competition authorities on 18 June 2001.
Further information can be found on our Internet site: http://www.bhp.com
Contact:
MEDIA RELATIONS
Mandy Frostick
Manager Media Relations
Ph: +61 3 9609 4157
Mob: +61 419 546 245
Graham Nicholls
Vice President External Affairs
BHP Diamonds
Ph: +1 604 605 8666 ext 241
Mob: +1 604 818 0997
INVESTOR RELATIONS
Dr Robert Porter
Vice President Investor Relations
Ph: +61 3 9609 3540
Mob: +61 418 587 456
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