Calibre hits 13-year high after Equinox sweetens offer

Shares of Calibre Mining (TSX: CXB; US-OTC: CXBMF) soared their highest price in 13 years after Equinox Gold (TSX, NYSE-A: EQX) sweetened its takeover offer right before shareholders were set to vote on the deal.

Under an amended agreement announced April 23, Equinox will now offer 0.35 of its common stock for each Calibre share, giving the transaction a total value of $2.8 billion. The initial offer announced in late February was 0.31 Equinox share for one Calibre share for a value of $2.48 billion. 

Calibre’s shares closed Thursday’s trading session in Toronto 7% higher at $3.35 apiece — its highest since 2012. The Vancouver-based miner’s market capitalization stood at almost $2.9 billion. Equinox Gold, also based in Vancouver, gained 2% at market close for a market capitalization of $4.3 billion.

No. 2 gold miner

The improved offer came just hours before the companies’ scheduled shareholder meetings to vote on the transaction. If approved, it would consummate the formation of the second-largest gold producer in Canada, with Equinox shareholders owning about 61% and Calibre holding 39%. Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM) is the largest.  

Equinox — coming off a record year of gold production — agreed to buy Calibre earlier this year to further boost its pipeline and consolidate assets across the Americas. Its Greenstone mine in Ontario achieved commercial production late in 2024 and is expected to become one of the largest open-pit gold mines in Canada.

The combined company would own a total of nine producing mines, another under construction, and five projects across five countries.

Shareholder pushback

However, the proposed takeover had received pushback from Calibre’s top shareholder Van Eck Associates, which stated last month that a merger would dilute the quality and potential of the precious metals producer.

“We are not supportive of this transaction. We don’t see any synergies between any of the companies’ operations,” Imaru Casanova, a portfolio manager at Van Eck, wrote last month. “Both operate in the Americas, but in vastly different locations.”

Calibre currently operates mines in the U.S. and Nicaragua, and is on the verge of starting production at the Valentine gold mine in Newfoundland and Labrador, which it acquired as part of its 2023 takeover of Marathon Gold.

“Calibre was on the cusp of a rerate as it advanced Valentine to production,” Casanova said, referring to the Valentine mine that is nearing completion and expected to come online mid-2025.