Richmont Mines Inc. Confirms and Amends its Shareholder Rights Plan
Richmont Mines Inc. announced today that its Board of Directors unanimously confirmed and amended the Company’s Shareholder Rights Plan (the “Amended and Restated Rights Plan”), set to expire in the coming months, so that it was in conformity with the current shareholder protection rights plan practices of Canadian companies. The objective of the Amended and Restated Rights Plan is to provide adequate time for the Board of Directors and shareholders to properly consider and evaluate any unsolicited takeover bid and, if thought advisable, to explore and develop alternatives for maximizing shareholder value. The Amended and Restated Rights Plan is also designed to provide for the equal treatment of all shareholders of the Company in the event of a change of control of the Company.
According to the terms set out in the Amended and Restated Rights Plan, offers that satisfy certain minimum standards designed to protect shareholder interests will be considered to be “Permitted Bids”. Specifically, a Permitted Bid must be made by way of a takeover bid circular that is in conformity with the applicable securities laws, must be made to all existing shareholders of the Company, must be outstanding for a minimum period of 60 days, and must satisfy certain other conditions.
As per the terms of the Amended and Restated Rights Plan, the Company issued and attached one right (“Right”) to each outstanding common share of the Company that is held by registered shareholders as of 04:00 pm (Montreal time) on March 28th, 2011. In the event that an unsolicited takeover bid does not meet the applicable requirements to be deemed a Permitted Bid, these Rights will grant shareholders the opportunity to acquire common shares of the Company at a significant discount to the prevailing market price of the common shares.
On March 4, 2011, the Toronto Stock Exchange authorized the Amended and Restated Rights Plan adopted by Richmont’s Board of Directors. The Company intends to submit the Amended and Restated Rights Plan to its shareholders for ratification at the Company’s next annual and special meeting, scheduled for May 13, 2011. In the event that the Amended and Restated Rights Plan is not ratified by Richmont shareholders at this meeting, the Amended and Restated Rights Plan will be terminated, and the Company will no longer have any form of shareholder rights plan.
The Company is not aware of any specific take-over bid for the Company that has been made or is contemplated, and no person or group presently holds 20% or more of Richmont’s common shares.
The Amended and Rights Plan will be filed shortly and will be available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. It will also be available free of charge upon request to Richmont’s Assistant Corporate Secretary, and will be available on Richmont’s website at www.richmont-mines.com.
