The purchase of Riversdale by Hancock Corporation has officially gone through.

As of May 10th, Hancock now owns 97.02% of the company.

Hancock Chair, Mrs. Gina Rinehart says she is delighted with the purchase.

“For a long time, Hancock has wanted to find a good metallurgical coal opportunity to complement our iron ore projects- both commodities being critical for steelmaking. Grassy Mountain is a good strategic fit for Hancock that adds to our existing iron ore interests in Hope Downs, Roy Hill and Atlas Iron. We look forward to working with Riversdale’s staff and other stakeholders to deliver this exciting project.”

Hancock first became involved with Riversdale in 2018 when they entered the register of Riversdale through a placement of 19.99% of the company at a price of $1.70 per share and a total approximate cost of $100M.

Hancock then offered to purchase the remaining shares in February of 2019.

On May 9, the Riversdale board recommended that all shareholders accept the Hancock offer accept the Hancock offer at the increased bid price of $2.70 per share.

Riversdale’s Independent Expert concluded that the offer price was fair and reasonable.

This sale is not expected to impact the regulatory process.
A Hancock Representative says this purchase will be beneficial to the continued push of the Grassy Mountain project.

“As an experienced developer of tier one minerals projects, Hancock will strongly support and pursue the development of the Grassy Mountain project in line with Riversdale’s existing plans. In fact, Hancock now considers Riversdale’s Grassy Mountain project to be its highest priority development project. The knowledge, skills and resources within Hancock will be applied to support the Grassy Mountain development and to ensure its long-term success.”

As for what this all means for the community Hancock intends to establish and maintain strong and productive relationships with key stakeholders associated with the project.

“Hancock intends that Riversdale will continue to work closely with the local communities, First Nations, provincial and federal governments and other stakeholders. The level of engagement and investment in communities and other stakeholders from Hancock will be consistent with that which has been conducted by Riversdale.”

Hancock also recognizes the importance of what has been established here already.

“The existing Riversdale management team, employees and contractors are critical to the success of the project and have the full support of Hancock. In this regard, Hancock has advised Riversdale that it intends for the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer to each be based in Canada. Hancock has also committed to Riversdale’s employees that the Canadian offices will be retained and that the existing Sydney (Australia) office will be phased out.”

Now that the increase to the offer price has been triggered, all shareholders who accepted into the offer before or after the increased price was triggered will receive the increased price on $2.70 per share.

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