St Barbara backs Genesis’ offer for Leonara assets over Silver Lake bid

St Barbara rejected Silver Lake’s A$732 million offer, citing a lack of synergies and a lower cash component.

“Silver Lake has not provided any reasonable or quantitative assumptions to support its proposed offer price which could otherwise be confirmed via due diligence,” St Barbara said in a statement, adding that a transaction with the company would also likely take longer to complete.

Even if the required mutual due diligence could be completed within two weeks, Silver Lake indicated that expected completion of a transaction would occur in mid to late August, St Barbara said, whereas a deal with Genesis is likely to be completed by June 30.

“Silver Lake is surprised and disappointed that after limited engagement regarding the Silver Lake Proposal, the St Barbara Board has advised that it will not engage further,” it said.

It added that two of St Barbara’s stakeholders – L1 Capital and Baker Steel Capital Managers LLC were in favor of granting Silver Lake due diligence.