Sprott Physical Gold Trust (the “Trust”) completed a cross-border follow-on public offering of 23,000,000 trust units (the “Units”) at US$15.19 per Unit for gross proceeds of US$349,370,000, which included the exercise in full of the over-allotment option under the offering. The Trust was created to invest and hold substantially all of its assets in physical gold bullion and provide a secure, convenient and exchange-traded way for investors interested in holding physical gold bullion without the inconvenience that is typical of a direct investment in physical gold bullion. The Trust completed its initial public offering on March 3, 2010, has subsequently completed four cross-border follow-on offerings and is managed by Sprott Asset Management LP (“Sprott”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprott Inc. The Units are listed on the NYSE Arca and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The offering was made simultaneously in the United States and Canada through a syndicate of underwriters led by RBC Capital Markets and Morgan Stanley. The underwriters for the offering in Canada also included TD Securities Inc., BMO Capital Markets, Canaccord Genuity Corp., GMP Securities L.P., National Bank Financial Inc., Raymond James Ltd., Sprott Private Wealth LP, Dundee Securities Ltd. and Macquarie Private Wealth Inc.
Canadian counsel to the Trust and Sprott was Heenan Blaikie LLP, with a team that included Sonia Yung and Ora Wexler (securities) and Peter Clark and Catherine Nicholson (tax). US counsel to the Trust and Sprott was Seward & Kissel LLP, with a team that included Anthony Tu-Sekine and Alexandre Rourk (securities) and Jim Cofer (tax).
Canadian counsel to the underwriters was Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, with a team comprising Shawn McReynolds, Robert Murphy and Chris Figel (securities) and Ron Wilson and Neal Armstrong (tax). US counsel to the underwriters was Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, with a team comprising Christopher Cummings, Stephen Centa and Philippe Savard (securities) and David Mayo (tax).
