Great Basin Gold Announces Closing of C$126.5 Million Bought Deal Public Offering of Convertible Debentures
November 19 2009 - 8:54AM
PR Newswire (US)
VANCOUVER, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Great Basin Gold Ltd.
("Great Basin Gold" or the "Company"), (TSX: GBG; NYSE Amex: GBG;
JSE: GBG) announces that it has closed its previously announced
bought deal offering of senior unsecured convertible debentures
(the "Debentures") with a syndicate of underwriters (the
"Offering"). The underwriters have exercised their over-allotment
option resulting in aggregate gross proceeds of C$126.5 million.
Ferdi Dippenaar, President and CEO, commented: "We are pleased to
have completed a very successful transaction that provides Great
Basin Gold with the capital it requires to fully develop the
Burnstone project." Net proceeds from the Offering will be used for
repayment of amounts drawn down on the Company's project finance
facility, development of the Company's Burnstone project (replacing
the proposed Burnstone project finance facility) and general
corporate purposes. The Debentures are senior unsecured obligations
of the Company and are guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by
each subsidiary through which the Company holds title to the
Burnstone project. The Debentures will rank pari passu with all
existing and future senior unsecured indebtedness of Great Basin
Gold, except as it relates to the subsidiary guarantees above. The
Debentures will be effectively subordinated to all existing and any
future secured debt of the Company to the extent of the assets
securing such debt. The Debentures will mature on November 30, 2014
and will accrue interest at the rate of 8.0% per annum payable on a
semi-annual basis. At the holder's option, the Debentures may be
converted into common shares of Great Basin Gold at any time up to
the maturity date. The conversion price will be C$2.15 for each
common share, subject to adjustment in certain circumstances. The
Debentures will not be redeemable before November 30, 2012. From
November 30, 2012 through to the maturity date, Great Basin Gold
may, at its option, redeem the Debentures, in whole or in part, at
par plus accrued and unpaid interest provided that the weighted
average trading price of the common shares on the Toronto Stock
Exchange for the 20 consecutive trading days ending five trading
days prior to the date on which notice of redemption is provided is
at least C$2.90. The Debentures have not been and will not be
registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration
or an applicable exemption from the registrations requirements of
such Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell
or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in any
jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or solicitation would be
unlawful. No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the
information contained in this news release. Cautionary and Forward
Looking Statement Information This release includes certain
statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All
statements in this release, other than statements of historical
facts, that address financing events or technical developments that
Great Basin Gold expects to occur are forward-looking statements.
Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such
forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions,
such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual
results or developments may differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements
include financial market conditions, metals prices, exploitation
and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization,
uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits,
licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition,
geopolitical uncertainty, changes in government policies regarding
mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, continued
availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market
or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such
statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual
results or developments may differ materially from those projected
in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the
Company, Investors should review the Company's annual Form 40-F
filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at
http://www.sedar.com/. DATASOURCE: Great Basin Gold Ltd. CONTACT:
For additional details on Great Basin Gold and its gold properties,
please visit the Company's website at http://www.grtbasin.com/ or
contact Investor Services: Tsholo Serunye in South Africa, 27 (0)
11 301 1800; Michael Curlook in North America, 1-888-633-9332;
Barbara Cano at Breakstone Group in the USA, (646) 452-2334
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