King and Wood Mallesons is pleased to be advising Northern Star Resources Ltd on its proposed A$5 billion all-scrip acquisition of De Grey Mining Ltd, by way of scheme of arrangement under the Corporations Act.
On implementation of the scheme, De Grey’s flagship Hemi Gold Project will become part of the Northern Star portfolio – Hemi is a low-cost, long-life and large-scale gold development project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, and one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in a Tier-1 mining jurisdiction globally.
The KWM team has worked with Northern Star on all aspects of the transaction to date, including negotiation and agreement of binding documentation and legal due diligence, and looks forward to supporting Northern Star as the parties progress towards implementation.
Our multi-disciplinary KWM team is led by Mergers & Acquisitions Partner Antonella Pacitti, with our core team comprising Partner Roger Davies, Senior Associates Jacob Carmody and Toby Newnes, and Solicitors Cairo Leicester, Tom Carmody, Gabrielle O’Hara and Isabella Watkins.
Key specialist input is provided by our Mining team (Partner Lorenzo Pacitti, Senior Associates Chris Barry and Chelsey Schroeter and Solicitor Tom Robins), Environment and Tenure team (Partner Sally Audeyev and Solicitor Cohen Augustson), Finance team (Partner Dan Flanagan and Solicitor Hue Pham), and Tax team (Partner Greg Protektor and Senior Associate David Blight).
Commenting on the deal, Antonella Pacitti said:
“Northern Star is a very special client of ours and this is a very special transaction. We are delighted to be supporting Northern Star on another landmark deal in the gold sector, which is a key focus area for our market leading Perth Centre and national M&A strategy.
The Northern Star team never stands still, but manages to deliver strategic M&A without drawing focus from its organic and operational ambitions for the business and its people.”
The transaction is expected to be implemented in late April or early May 2025, and builds on KWM’s unrivalled deal capability in mining M&A (with other recent deals including Alcoa/Alumina, Allkem/Livent, Newmont/Newcrest and BHP/Oz Minerals).
