Genesis Minerals’ rival bid for fellow gold miner Vault Minerals deemed ‘superior’ to Regis Resources merger

A bidding war for Luke Tonkin’s Vault Minerals has erupted, with Genesis Minerals lobbing a late “superior” offer to scupper its planned $10.7 billion tie-up with fellow WA-based gold miner Regis Resources. Genesis’ spoiler move comes just weeks after it wrapped up a $640 million deal that was meant to “complete” the “puzzle” of its regional consolidation strategy. Vault’s board in May backed a “merger of equals” with Regis Resources via a consideration of 0.6947 Regis shares for each Vault share held. Regis was about two months away from completely sewing up the deal before being gazumped by Genesis on Monday. Genesis offered 0.7629 of its shares plus 47.5¢ in cash for each Vault share held, valuing Vault at $5.6b. Genesis’ 16 per cent share price surge on Friday inflated its offer and likely induced it to pull the trigger. Regis’ offer is currently worth closer to $5b. Genesis said it would be worth $12.6b with Vault, producing 600,000 to 700,000ozpa, but also unlocking an estimated $1.5b in pre-tax “synergies” over 10 years. Processing ore from Genesis Minerals’ new Tower Hill development at Vault’s nearby King of the Hills mill — rather than building its own processing facility — would alone save $715 million, the suitor said. Genesis said it would cost up to $280m to build a mill for Tower Hill. The $715m also includes the costs saved to expand mining operations. The new company would be the third largest Australian-based gold producer, trailing Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining. Vault said its board unanimously supported Genesis’ bid and the gazumped Regis has five business days to up its offer. Regis on Monday said it was “considering its position”. The Jim Beyer-led company is in line to receive a break fee of $50m if it decides not to go ahead with another offer. For Vault shareholders, the first proposal would leave Regis owning 51 per cent of the merged company while the rival bid would deliver 59.8 per cent of the enlarged group to Genesis. Regis holds the Duketon hub near Kalgoorlie and also has a 30 per cent stake in the giant Tropicana gold mine with operator AngloGold Ashanti. Regis and Vault have no immediate operational synergies. Regis also announced on Monday that it had produced 101,500oz in the June quarter, bringing full year output to the top end of guidance at 379,000oz. Its key growth project, McPhillamys in NSW, is stuck in regulatory limbo. Genesis pouncing on Vault adds to a steady stream of WA gold mergers and acquisitions over the past three years amid a price surge for the precious metal. Vault itself was created by a merger between Red 5 and Silver Lake Resources in 2024. Other key deals in recent years include Northern Star buying De Grey Mining, Gold Fields acquiring joint venture partner Gold Road Resources, Ramelius Resources taking over gold hopeful Spartan Resources and Westgold Resources uniting with Canada’s Karora Resources. Several institutional Genesis investors who spoke to The West Australian said that while the raid on Vault made strategic sense, it still caught them off guard. Genesis boss Raleigh Finlayson had apparently ruled out a play for Vault during closed-door investor briefings in recent months. The sudden pivot comes just weeks after Genesis finalised its $640m takeover of Lady Julie project developer Magnetic Resources. It was a transaction Genesis explicitly pitched at the time as the final piece of the “puzzle” to consolidate its Leonora-Laverton mining heartland. Shares in Genesis were down 3.3 per cent to $6.08 by 9.10am, while Vault had jumped 12 per cent to $5.06.