Dominion Diamond Mines Granted Court Approval for Sale of Ekati Mine to DDJ Capital Management and Brigade Capital Management
Transaction Expected to Close by February 1, 2021; Mine Restart on Track for January 29, 2021
Dominion Diamond Mines ULC (“Dominion” or the “Company”) announced today that it has received approval from the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench (the “Court”) of the asset purchase agreement (the “Agreement”) among Dominion and its affiliates as sellers and DDJ Capital Management, LLC (“DDJ”) and Brigade Capital Management, LP (“Brigade”).
Under the Agreement, an entity to be controlled by DDJ and Brigade (the “Purchaser”) would acquire substantially all of Dominion’s assets, excluding Dominion’s interest in the joint venture agreement and liabilities relating to the Diavik Mine, in consideration for the assumption by the Purchaser of various liabilities owing to Dominion’s creditors, employees, suppliers and surety bond holders, including assuming US$70 million of Dominion’s outstanding indebtedness under its existing revolving credit agreement and the provision of a US$70 million working capital facility ranking behind the first-lien lenders.
Subject to obtaining all required regulatory approvals and satisfying other customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close no later than February 1, 2021 (the “Outside Date”). The parties may extend the Outside Date if required governmental approvals have not been obtained by February 1, 2021. The Court has also extended the current stay of proceedings in favour of Dominion to March 1, 2021. The Company is making all efforts to restart operations at the Ekati Mine by January 29, 2021.
As previously announced, on April 22, 2020, Dominion filed for insolvency protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”) and obtained an order from the Court granting Dominion protection under the CCAA pursuant to an order from the Court.
Copies of the applicable Court orders and other Court materials and information related to the Company's CCAA proceedings are available on the website maintained by FTI, which has been appointed by the Court as Dominion’s Monitor to oversee the CCAA proceedings: cfcanada.fticonsulting.com/Dominion.
About Dominion Diamond Mines
Dominion Diamond Mines ULC is a Canadian mining company and one of the world’s largest producers and suppliers of premium rough diamond assortments to the global market. The company owns a controlling interest in the Ekati Diamond Mine, which it operates, and owns 40% of the Diavik Diamond Mine. The company also holds a controlling interest in the Lac de Gras Diamond Project. The Ekati and Diavik Diamond Mines, and the Lac de Gras Diamond Project are located in the Northwest Territories of Canada. In addition to its mining and exploration operations, Dominion has offices in Canada, Belgium and India.
For more information, please visit www.ddmines.com and Dominion’s private investor portal, or contact investor@ddcorp.ca.
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Contact
Rebecca Hurl
Rebecca.Hurl@ddcorp.ca
403-797-0486
Sard Verbinnen & Co
Jared Levy/Liz Zale
DominionDiamond-SVC@sardverb.com