bated breath, page-20

The australian. All over it:

THE full details around the $600 million-plus courtship of Papillon Resources now look like they won’t be known until next week, amid rising speculation that Canada’s B2Gold is the company with its eye on the gold developer.

Papillon yesterday followed up a two-day trading halt with a request to suspend its shares for another week as it continued to discuss a “potential corporate transaction”.

The company, which is the product of proven dealmakers Ian Middlemas and Mark Connelly, has long been seen as a ripe target for a takeover given the quality of its large and high-grade Fekola gold deposit in the West African nation of Mali.

Details of the negotiations have remained scant to date, but days of contemplation by interested observers have narrowed speculation around the likely suitor down to B2Gold.

B2Gold is known to have a strong appetite for acquisitions and enjoys a shareholder base that is likely to back the right purchase. The company acquired Australia’s CGA Mining in 2012 and followed that up last year with the purchase of Burkina Faso goldminer Volta Resources.

It has about $330m available in cash and undrawn debt facilities, which would leave it equipped to fund the development of Fekola post-acquisition.

That would leave it to use its shares to acquire Papillon, which is widely considered to have been letting the market know for a while that it would be a willing seller at about $2-$2.10 per share (it last traded at $1.45).

The Canadian miner would also back itself to develop Fekola cheaper than Papillon, given its experience building around the world.

B2Gold used Canadian-based advisers and lawyers for its CGA acquisition, and a similar approach this time around could explain why there’s been so few leaks out of Australia regarding the Papillon talks.