Mr. Michael Swistun of Canadian Gold reports
MCEWEN INC. AND CANADIAN GOLD CORP. ANNOUNCE ARRANGEMENT AGREEMENT
McEwen Inc. and Canadian Gold Corp. have entered into a definitive agreement dated Oct. 10, 2025, pursuant to which McEwen will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Canadian Gold by way of a statutory plan of arrangement. If the proposed transaction is approved by Canadian Gold shareholders and the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canadian Gold will become a wholly owned subsidiary of McEwen. Notice of a special meeting of Canadian Gold shareholders with a record date of Oct. 30, 2025, and meeting date of Dec. 5, 2025, has been filed on SEDAR+. The proposed transaction is expected to close in early January, 2026.
Under the terms of the arrangement agreement, which was negotiated at arm's length, each holder of common shares of Canadian Gold will receive 0.0225 McEwen common share for each Canadian Gold share held.
The exchange ratio represents a current offer price of 60 cents per Canadian Gold share, representing a 96.3-per-cent premium over the closing price of the Canadian Gold shares on the trading day immediately prior to the public announcement of the letter of intent relating to the proposed transaction. Upon completion of the transaction, existing McEwen and Canadian Gold shareholders will own approximately 92 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, of McEwen, on both an outstanding shares and fully diluted basis. McEwen will continue trading under the name McEwen Inc. on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol MUX.
Canadian Gold's principal asset is its 100-per-cent interest in the Tartan Lake gold mine project (the Tartan mine), located in the province of Manitoba, Canada. The Tartan mine is a high-grade gold project and former-producing mine with existing infrastructure and significant exploration potential.
Benefits of the transaction for Canadian Gold shareholders
The proposed transaction is expected to offer significant benefits to Canadian Gold shareholders, including:
- Exposure to McEwen's diversified portfolio of producing operations, development projects and royalties;
- Access to McEwen's technical team with a history in gold exploration, underground mining and mine development;
- An attractive premium and the enhanced liquidity of McEwen shares from dual stock exchange listings in Canada and the United States.
Benefits of the transaction for McEwen shareholders:
The proposed transaction is also expected to offer a number of significant benefits to McEwen shareholders, including:
- Adds an increasingly rare, high-grade former-producing mine in Canada with existing infrastructure. Situated close to Flin Flon, Man., the Tartan mine benefits from access to a skilled mining work force and does not require the construction of a mining camp;
- Potential development of the Tartan mine has many similarities to McEwen's Fox complex (ramp access, mining method and proposed process plant design), leveraging McEwen's internal skills;
- Enhances McEwen's development and production pipeline;
- Substantial exploration potential, which has been recently increased by Canadian Gold's optioning of the adjoining Tartan West property.
Details of the proposed transaction
- The proposed transaction is expected to be completed by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). Under the terms of the arrangement agreement, McEwen will acquire all of the issued and outstanding Canadian Gold shares in exchange for McEwen shares on the basis of the exchange ratio. All outstanding options to purchase Canadian Gold shares have been exercised as of the date of this news release. Outstanding warrants to purchase Canadian Gold shares are exercisable prior to closing of the proposed transaction in accordance with their terms. Any outstanding warrants that are not duly exercised prior to the closing will be terminated without any additional compensation.
- In order to comply with New York Stock Exchange rules, Robert McEwen will not be entitled to receive newly issued shares of McEwen representing more than 1 per cent of the currently issued and outstanding shares of McEwen without obtaining the prior approval of McEwen shareholders, which is expected to be obtained at the next annual meeting of McEwen shareholders. If such shareholder approval is not obtained, McEwen will pay for such excess shares in cash.
- To be effective, the proposed transaction will require the approval of: (a) 66.67 per cent of the votes cast by shareholders of Canadian Gold; and, (b) a simple majority of the votes cast by minority Canadian Gold shareholders in accordance with Multilateral Instrument 61-101 -- Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (MI 61-101), at a special meeting of Canadian Gold shareholders expected to take place on Dec. 5, 2025. In accordance with MI 61-101, the vote of the minority Canadian Gold shareholders will exclude, among others, the shares of Canadian Gold held by McEwen, Robert McEwen, as well as James Downey and Alexander McEwen (who are both directors of Canadian Gold nominated by Robert McEwen).
- The arrangement agreement includes provisions such as conditions to closing the proposed transaction, and representations and warranties and covenants customary for arrangement agreements. The arrangement agreement also includes: (i) customary deal protection and non-solicitation provisions in favour of McEwen, including a break fee of $2,195,000 payable to McEwen in certain circumstances; and (ii) provisions allowing Canadian Gold to consider and accept superior proposals, in compliance with its fiduciary duties.
- Completion of the proposed transaction will be subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of necessary court and regulatory approvals, including approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange and the NYSE.
The arrangement agreement was approved by the board of directors of both McEwen and Canadian Gold, based on the recommendation of their respective special committees comprising independent and disinterested directors. To ensure a thorough and impartial review of the arrangement agreement, each company's special committee engaged an independent financial adviser. These advisers have each provided a written opinion stating that, subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications set out in their respective opinions, the proposed consideration is fair from a financial perspective.
Recognizing their respective conflicts of interest as directors of McEwen and as shareholders and interested parties in Canadian Gold, Robert McEwen and Ian Ball abstained from voting on the approval of the arrangement agreement by McEwen's board of directors. Similarly, Alexander McEwen and Jim Downey acknowledged their conflicts of interest arising from their appointments to the Canadian Gold board of directors by Robert McEwen.
Further details with respect to the proposed transaction will be included in an information circular to be mailed to Canadian Gold shareholders in connection with the Canadian Gold meeting. A copy of the arrangement agreement will be filed on each of McEwen's and Canadian Gold's SEDAR+ profiles and a copy of the information circular will be filed on Canadian Gold's SEDAR+ profile.
About McEwen Inc.
McEwen shares trade on both the NYSE and TSX under the ticker MUX.
McEwen provides its shareholders with exposure to a growing base of gold and silver production in addition to a very large copper development project, all in the Americas. The gold and silver mines are in prolific mineral-rich regions of the world, the Cortez trend in Nevada, United States, the Timmins district of Ontario, Canada, and the Deseado Massif in Santa Cruz province, Argentina. McEwen is also considering reactivating a gold and silver mine in Mexico.
It has a 46.4-per-cent interest in the large, long-life, advanced-stage Los Azules copper development project in San Juan province, Argentina -- a region that hosts some of the country's largest copper deposits. The Los Azules copper project is designed to be one of the world's first regenerative copper mines and carbon neutral by 2038.
Rob McEwen, chairman and chief owner, has a personal cost basis for his investment in the companies of over $200-million and takes a salary of $1 per year, aligning his interests closely with shareholders. He is a recipient of the Order of Canada, a member of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and a winner of the Ernest & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Energy) award. His objective is to build MUX's profitability, share value and eventually implement a dividend policy, as he did while building Goldcorp Inc.
About Canadian Gold Corp.
Canadian Gold is a Canadian-based mineral exploration and development company whose objective is to expand the high-grade gold resource at the past-producing Tartan mine, located in Flin Flon, Man. The historic Tartan mine currently has a 2017 indicated mineral resource estimate of 240,000 ounces gold (1.18 million tonnes at 6.32 grams per tonne gold) and an inferred estimate of 37,000 oz gold (240,000 tonnes at 4.89 g/t gold). The company also holds a 100-per-cent interest in greenfield exploration properties in Ontario and Quebec adjacent to some of Canada's largest gold mines and development projects, specifically, the Canadian Malartic mine (Quebec), the Hemlo mine (Ontario) and Hammond Reef project (Ontario). McEwen holds a 5.6-per-cent interest in Canadian Gold, and Robert McEwen, the founder and former CEO of Goldcorp, and chairman and CEO of McEwen, holds a 32.5-per-cent interest in Canadian Gold.
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