Agnico Eagle Mines Limited acquired Riddarhyttan Resources AB for ~US$150 million (whole-company value of the exchange offer; Agnico already owned ~14%).
Agnico Eagle agreed to make a share-exchange takeover offer for the balance of Riddarhyttan Resources AB, a Stockholm-listed explorer in which it already held about 14%. The offer valued Riddarhyttan at roughly US$150 million. Riddarhyttan's principal asset was the Suurikuusikko gold deposit in northern Finland, which Agnico developed into the Kittila mine - one of the largest gold mines in Europe. Agnico completed the acquisition later in 2005.
The deal gave Agnico full control of a large, growing development-stage gold deposit and marked its first major move outside the Americas, establishing the Nordic operating platform that became the Kittila mine.
Advisory firms were not disclosed for this transaction.