Far East Gold (ASX:FEG) reaffirmed its unanimous recommendation that shareholders reject Xingye Gold's unconditional takeover bid, arguing the offer significantly undervalues the company despite a potential price increase contingent on the bidder securing majority control, according to an Australian bourse filing on Tuesday after market hours.
The independent board committee said the offer remains well below the independent expert's assessed fair value range of AU$0.324 to AU$0.444 per share, even if the consideration rises to AU$0.15 per share upon Xingye obtaining more than 50% voting power by July 29, per the filing.
The board cited a non-binding proposal valuing the Trenggalek project at $40 million as further evidence that the takeover offer does not reflect the company's asset value, the filing said.
The company also rejected Xingye's criticisms of the independent expert's report and disputed the bidder's claims regarding its Indonesian project tenure and historical rent obligations, the filing added.
In a separate filing, Xingye said its off-market takeover bid for the company has become wholly unconditional after fulfilling or waiving all defeating conditions under the Corporations Act, and that it now holds a 33.9% voting interest in the company.