Inmet Mining has announced its offer to purchase common shares of Petaquilla Minerals for $114 million in cash or shares.

The offer represents a premium of 37% compared to yesterday’s closing price of Petaquilla Minerals shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

A statement from Inmet Mining reads:

Inmet is developing the largest mining project in Panama, the copper and gold mine Cobre Panama, with an investment of $6.2 billion.

Inmet intends to continue operating the gold mine belonging to Petaquilla, called Molejón, which is adjacent to Cobre Panama, applying its experience as a skilled operator.

Source: Inmet Mining Corporation

Reasons Behind Purchase of Petaquilla by Inmet

The acquisition could help control the environmental problems of the Molejón mine in the neighboring and much larger Cobre Panama project. The hostile bid by Inmet Mining Corp. to Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. seems to be more than the simple acquisition of a mine adjacent to its huge gold and copper mine, the Cobre Panama project.

Greg Barnes, an analyst at TD Securities in Toronto, believes that the proposed $112 million acquisition could be an example of preventive damage limitation.

Barnes explained that the Petaquilla Mollejón gold mine may have experienced environmental problems. In a statement, Inmet said the deal would “improve environmental compliance” in the mine.

Barnes reasoned, “we assume that the Inmet’s management can not afford to allow the Cobre Panama project, worth $6.2 billion U.S. dollars, becoming contaminated by a potential environmental problem in an adjacent mine.”