Under the terms of the agreement, Blumont will offer 5.7 Blumont shares for every 2 Merlin Diamonds shares and is subject to a minimum acceptance of 50.1% of the Merlin Diamonds shares on issue.
Blumont chairman-designate Alex Molyneux said Blumont discovered precious stones as one of targeted business segments when the company first embarked on strategy to become Asia’s major diversified natural resources company.
"We are very excited and pleased to see this being fulfilled with this investment in Merlin Diamonds, which has given us access to the second largest combined diamond resource and reserve in Australia," Molyneux added.
Merlin Diamonds executive chairman, managing director and chief executive officer Joseph Gutnick said, "The Board is recommending our shareholders to accept Blumont’s offer."
