Amsterdam, May 16, 2013 - Nord Gold N.V. ("Nordgold" or the "Company", LSE: NORD), an international gold producer with nine operating mines in Russia, Kazakhstan, Burkina Faso and Guinea, announces that it has successfully completed the re-financing of the six month $280 million Bridge Loan used to finance the acquisition of all the outstanding shares of High River Gold Mines Ltd. ("High River") not already owned by Nordgold.
The Bridge Loan was re-financed using the proceeds of the successful US$500 million 5-year Eurobond issue announced on 8th May and co-ordinated by Citi, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Natixis, Sberbank CIB and Societe Generale. The US$500,000,000 6.375% Guaranteed Notes due 2018 (the “Notes”) were issued on May 7, 2013. The Notes are guaranteed by the following subsidiaries of the Company: CJSC “Mine Aprelkovo”, “Neryungri-Metallik” LLC, JSC FIC Alel, Société Minière de Dinguiraye and High River Gold Mines Ltd. Nordgold received significant interest in the offering from investors and the order book totalled approximately US$1 billion, with more than 120 orders placed by investors.
Nordgold announced its intention to make an offer to acquire all the outstanding shares of High River in July 2012. At that time, the Company and its affiliates owned approximately 75 percent of High River. Under the terms of the offer High River shareholders had a right to receive either 0.285 Nordgold global depositary receipts (“GDRs”) or C$1.40 in cash for each High River share. Nordgold consolidated 100% of High River in March 2013. The acquisition of all the outstanding shares of High River has enabled Nordgold to streamline the group structure and position the company as a compelling emerging markets-focused pure-play gold producer listed in London. As a result of the transaction, Nordgold freefloat has increased to 14.6%.
