On July 31, 2017, Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (Osisko) completed the acquisition of a high-quality precious metals portfolio of assets consisting of 74 royalties, streams and precious metal offtakes from Orion Mine Finance Group (Orion) in exchange for total consideration of $1.125 billion, consisting of $675 million cash and the issuance of 30,906,594 shares of Osisko.
Osisko, a TSX and NYSE traded company, is an intermediate precious metal royalty company focused on the Americas. The company commenced activities in June 2014. Orion Mine Finance Group is one of the world’s leading mining-focused private equity businesses.
The combination of Osisko and Orion’s portfolios resulted in Osisko holding a total of 131 royalties and streams, including 16 revenue-generating assets. Through the transaction, Osisko gained a 9.6-per-cent diamond stream on the Renard diamond mine and a 4-per-cent gold and silver stream on the Brucejack gold and silver mine, all of which are new high-quality mines in Canada, in addition to a 100-per-cent silver stream on the substantial Mantos Blancos copper mine in Chile.
Bennett Jones LLP acted as Osisko’s lead transaction counsel, with a team consisting of Linda Misetich Dann, Sander Grieve, Ali Naushahi, Andrew Disipio, Claire Lehan and Patrick Daley (corporate), Thomas Bauer, Philip Ward and Andrew Sullivan (tax) and Simon Grant (financial services).
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP advised Orion with a team led by Nancy Eastman and that included Daniel Batista, Jesse Bertollo, Mariko Rivers, Markus Liik, Myroslav Chwaluk, Steven Catania and Youssef Fichtali (corporate), Christopher Steeves and Paul Casuccio (tax) and Huy Do (competition).
Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P. (Josianne Beaudry, René Branchaud, Benjamin Gross, Mylène Vallières and Shan Jiang) acted for Osisko in Québec, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (Adam Givertz and Rebecca Vasluianu) acted as US counsel.