Stillwater Mining is planning to offer $300 million in senior notes to private investors to help fund its acquisition of Peregrine Metals. The offering is non-conditional on the completion of the acquisition of Peregrine Metals.
The senior notes will be due in 2016, but other details like the interest rate and terms of the notes will be determined at the time of pricing the private offering. The notes will be offered only to qualified institutional buyers and to persons outside the U.S., pursuant to federal securities laws.
The acquisition of Peregrine Metals by Stillwater Mining was announced in July and is to be a cash and stock deal valued at $487 million. Stillwater Mining is a major US producer of palladium and platinum. It is in fact the primary producer of the precious metal platinum outside the Russian Federation and South Africa.
By acquiring Vancouver based Peregrine Metals the company gets an inlet into copper and gold mines that they own in Argentina. The shares of dually listed company trade on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
As per the company the proceeds of the $300 million from the senior notes would be used to fund the cash aspect of the acquisition along with the cash on hand that was already available with the company. The remaining funds would be used to advance other development and expansion on existing projects.