Silvercorp Metals has secured a merger clearance certificate from the Tanzanian Fair Competition Commission (FCC), granting unconditional approval for its proposed acquisition of Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed OreCorp.

This clearance is a significant step forward for the Canadian mining company, as it represents the only Tanzanian regulatory requirement necessary to finalise the deal.

In a statement, the company said: “The Silvercorp Offer is scheduled to close at 7:00 p.m. (Sydney time) on February 23, 2024, unless the Silvercorp Offer is further extended or withdrawn.”

The transaction involves Silvercorp's off-market takeover offer for all OreCorp shares it does not already own.

The consideration for the transaction includes 0.0967 common shares of Silvercorp and A$0.19 ($0.13) in cash for each OreCorp share.

With the FCC's approval, Silvercorp is poised to complete the transaction, having already received acceptance from each OreCorp director.

The directors continue to advocate for the deal, urging OreCorp shareholders to accept the Silvercorp offer, given that there is no other superior bid.

This recommendation is also contingent on an independent expert's report affirming the offer's fairness to OreCorp shareholders.

In December last year, Silvercorp proposed to buy the shares of OreCorp it does not already own for A$276.5m in an off-market takeover.     

At that time, OreCorp CEO and managing director Henk Diederichs said: “We are delighted to have reached this position with Silvercorp. It became clear in recent weeks that the proposed scheme was at risk of not proceeding to completion.”

Silvercorp already owns a 15.74% stake in OreCorp.

With the new buyout structure, the scheme implementation deed signed by the companies in August 2023 and amended in November has been scrapped.