ASX 200 gold share Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR) is up 4.6% to $2.06 apiece on the gold explorer's final day of trading.
Meantime, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 0.12% to 8,678.3 points at the time of writing.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Western Australia approved the takeover of Spartan Resources by Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS).
Spartan said it would lodge the court's orders with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) today.
This will make the scheme effective. The ASX will suspend Spartan shares from trading after the market close today.
S&P Dow Jones Indices will remove the gold miner from the ASX 200 before tomorrow's market open.
Spartan Resources shares will be replaced by energy, transport, and social infrastructure investment company, Infratil Ltd (ASX: IFT).
Image source: Getty Images
Next steps for Spartan Resources shares
Implementation of the scheme is expected to occur next Thursday, 31 July.
Spartan shareholders will receive 25 cents in cash plus 0.6957 new Ramelius shares per Spartan share held.
Ramelius Resources and Spartan announced their proposed "transformational combination" on 17 March.
Spartan shareholders were enthusiastic, with the news pushing the share price 9.37% higher on the day to $1.75.
The companies said their combination would make them "a leading Australian gold producer with a supercharged growth profile and exceptional potential exploration upside".
Their combined Group Mineral Resource estimate is 12.1Moz Au and Ore Reserve of 2.6Moz Au.
The companies said Spartan's excess processing capacity and high-grade mineral resource would combine well with Ramelius' large mineral resource, operating plant, and proven operations team.
The companies expect cost savings through the rationalisation of site administration and removal of duplicate corporate costs.
Ramelius and Spartan have a vision to increase their gold production to more than 500koz per annum by FY30.
Spartan's Executive Chairman, Simon Lawson, said:
This is highly attractive and transformational combination which we believe represents a great outcome for Spartan shareholders.
The Combined Group will be positioned as a leading mid-tier ASX-listed gold producer with an enviable and robust growth pipeline including a significantly de-risked development pathway for Dalgaranga underpinned by Ramelius' robust balance sheet, strong cash generation and development expertise.
What happened to the Spartan Resources share price in FY25?
The Spartan Resources share price rose by 101.5% to finish the year at $1.985 apiece.
This made the ASX gold explorer one of just nine ASX 200 shares that doubled in value in FY25.
Like all ASX gold shares, Spartan Resources benefited from the strongly rising gold commodity price.
The gold price soared due to its safe-haven appeal amid geopolitical tensions and global trade uncertainty throughout the year.
The gold price hit a record US$3,500.05 per ounce on 22 April.
At the time of writing, the gold price is trading at $US3,396 per ounce, up 1.35%.
This is a five-week high and follows the US dollar and bond yields easing overnight.
What's ahead for the newly-fortified Ramelius Resources?
Ramelius Resources shares are trading at $2.60, up 5.5% at the time of writing.
Top broker Macquarie has an outperform rating on Ramelius Resources shares with a 12-month price target of $3.10.
This implies a potential upside of about 20%.
Ramelius revealed strong preliminary full-year FY25 results earlier this month.
The company's full-year gold production was 301,664 ounces, ahead of its guidance range of 290,000 ounces to 300,000 ounces.
Ramelius also expects its all-in sustaining costs (AISC) to be at the lower end of its guidance range of $1,550 to $1,650 per ounce.
Macquarie commented:
The 4QFY25 production result beat RMS' own expectations (which we were anchored to) and continued to demonstrate strong cash generation.
In the near term our valuation relies on completion of the [Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR)] deal and key study results.
