Goldcorp to acquire Canplats

By Euan Rocha

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Goldcorp Inc (G.TO) said on Monday it has agreed to acquire junior gold miner Canplats Resources Corp (CPQ.V) for about C$238 million ($229 million) as it tries to establish a network of satellite mines around its Penasquito gold project in Mexico.

Goldcorp plans to acquire all the outstanding shares of Canplats and then spin off all of Canplats' assets, other than its Camino Rojo project, into a new gold-exploration company.

Camino Rojo is located about 50 kilometers southeast of Goldcorp's Penasquito mine, which is expected to reach commercial production next year.

Analysts had speculated that Canplats was likely to be an acquisition target for Goldcorp, or another big gold miner, given the promising results from Camino Rojo.

"The acquisition of the Camino Rojo project fits very well with one of our strategic goals of enhancing opportunities in and around our core assets," said Goldcorp Chief Executive Chuck Jeannes in a statement.

"Along with the steady advancement of our Noche Buena project located north of Penasquito, we can envision a potential network of low-cost satellite operations that would contribute significantly to Penasquito production over the long term," he added.

DEAL VALUE

Each Canplats share would be exchanged for 0.074 of a common share of Goldcorp and an interest in a new exploration company notionally valued at 18 Canadian cents a share.

The Goldcorp offer values Canplats at about C$3.60 per share based upon the closing price of Goldcorp shares on November 13. The offer represents a premium of about 41 percent over the C$2.55 closing price of Canplats shares on Friday, November 13.

Goldcorp will retain a 9.9 percent interest in the new spinoff, while existing Canplats shareholders will own the remaining 90.1 percent.

The new company will hold interests in certain early-stage exploration properties located in the Durango and Chihuahua states of Mexico and C$10 million in cash.

The deal has been approved by the boards of directors of Goldcorp and Canplats. For the deal to close, a two-thirds majority of Canplats outstanding shares are required to vote in favor of the offer.

In the event that the transaction is not completed, Canplats has agreed to pay Goldcorp a termination fee of C$7.2 million under certain circumstances.

The deal gives Goldcorp the right to match any competing offers for Canplats.

Canplats shares rose 38 percent to C$3.52 in morning trade on the TSX Venture Exchange, while those of Goldcorp were up 1.2 percent at C$46.80 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha, editing by Peter Galloway)