Royal Gold To Buy Sandstorm Gold, Horizon Copper; SAND Up Over 8% In Pre-Market

(RTTNews) - Royal Gold, Inc. (RGLD), a precious metals streaming and royalty company, said on Monday that it has inked agreements to buy Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (SAND) and Horizon Copper Corporation (HCU.V).

Bill Heissenbuttel, CEO of Royal Gold, said: "The addition of the Sandstorm and Horizon assets will create a global portfolio of precious metals interests that is unmatched in terms of asset diversification, development and organic growth potential, and exploration optionality. These characteristics will position Royal Gold as the go-to vehicle for investors seeking precious metals exposure in the U.S. marketplace."

Royal Gold will acquire Sandstorm at an exchange ratio of 0.0625 shares of RGLD for each share of SAND, which reflects a transaction value of around $3.5 billion.

The exchange ratio implies a premium of 21% based on the 20-day volume-weighted average price, or VWAP, and 17% based on the closing price of SAND shares on the New York Stock Exchange as of July 3.

Post-transaction, RGLD will own around 77%, while SAND will own approximately 23% of the combined company. The transaction would provide immediate NAV per share accretion to Royal Gold.

Royal Gold will acquire Horizon for C$2 per share in cash or for a transaction value of around $196 million. The price per Horizon share implies a premium of 85% to the 20-day VWAP and 72% to the closing price of Horizon shares on the TSX.V on July 4.

These acquisitions are expected to add significantly to Royal Gold's diversified portfolio of precious metal stream and royalty interests.

The acquirer anticipates that the two transactions will contribute 40 additional producing assets to its portfolio, which are expected to account for between 65,000 and 80,000 gold equivalent ounces in 2025. These transactions would also increase full-year 2025 GEO production by around 26%.

SAND was up by 8.30% at $10.44 in the pre-market trade on the New York Stock Exchange.