Neptune, ABM merger plan gets go ahead from court

The decision came just 24 hours after the merger was approved by 79.6% of the votes cast by minority shareholders at a special meeting held recently at the head office of Northgate Exploration (TSE) in Toronto.

Northgate will hold 50% of the equity and 81% of the voting shares of the amalgamated company whose chief asset is the 200,000-oz-per-year Coloma c gold project in the Northwest Territories.

The meeting was held because, according to the Ontario Securities Commission, the merger proposal wasn’t approved by a majority of minority shareholders at an earlier meeting on Nov 10.

After the Nov 10 meeting, the OSC placed a temporary halt trading order on class A and B shares issued as part of the merger. The cease trading order was lifted Nov 23 after ABM agreed to hold a second ballot under which approval of the majority of the minority shareholders, as determined by the OSC, would be required to authorize the transaction. According to ABM, 6.8 million of the 11.4 million minority Neptune shares outstanding voted i n favor while 1.7 million voted against the merger. Northgate and Gold Reserve of Spokane, Wash., which hold 13.3 million shares and 4.5 million shares of Neptune respectively, abstained from voting.

As a result, Neptune has merged along with United Gold and Inca Resources into ABM Gold.

The merger is part of Northgate’s ongoing attempt to simplify its corporate structure and take the first step toward having direct interest in a producing gold mine.

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