The High Court of Justice in England and Wales last week sanctioned Barrick Gold's (TSX: ABX) acquisition of the 36.1% of Acacia it didn't already own after the two companies had reached agreement in July following an at-times bitter battle.
The deal implied a value of 232p per Acacia share, a 53.5% premium to its May 20 closing price of 151p prior to Barrick announcing a possible offer, and a value of £951 million (US$1.2 billion) for the company.
Acacia said directors Peter Geleta, Rachel English, Steve Lucas, Deborah Gudgeon, Alan Ashworth and Adrian Reynolds would resign as of the effective date, which was expected to be September 17, and Graham Shuttleworth and Martin Welsh would be appointed as new directors of Acacia.
Other gold companies are hoping Barrick CEO Mark Bristow, who took on the role after Barrick merged with Randgold Resources on January 1, will help turn a page for a new era in Tanzania, which held talks with Barrick but refused to negotiate with Acacia over long-running issues including a tax dispute, export bans and environmental concerns.
Acacia had formed in 2010 as a spin-out of Barrick's Tanzanian assets and was originally known as African Barrick Gold.
Barrick has requested Acacia shares be suspended from trade tomorrow morning and it expects the listing to be cancelled on September 18.
Acacia shares have more than halved in value since listing and closed on Friday at 231.8p.
