Hudbay Minerals Inc. announced the closing of its previously announced acquisition of Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. (“Arizona Sonoran”) by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement, pursuant to which Hudbay has acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Arizona Sonoran, not already owned by Hudbay.
Arizona Sonoran is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hudbay and, in accordance with the terms of the Transaction, former Arizona Sonoran shareholders received 0.242 of a Hudbay common share for each Arizona Sonoran common share (each, an “ASCU Share”) held immediately prior to the effective time of the Transaction or, in the case of former holders of options, restricted share units and deferred share units of Arizona Sonoran, for each ASCU Share held immediately following the effective time of the Transaction.
“Completing the Arizona Sonoran acquisition further enhances Hudbay’s copper growth pipeline in the U.S. and strengthens Hudbay’s position as a leading Americas-focused copper company,” said Peter Kukielski, Hudbay’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Together with the advancement of Copper World, the addition of the Cactus project to our portfolio creates one of the most significant copper districts in North America. We welcome the Cactus team to the Hudbay family, and we look forward to continuing to de-risk the Cactus project and realizing the significant operational and regional synergies with Copper World. With a strong balance sheet, sustainable free cash flow generation from our diversified operating platform and a disciplined capital allocation strategy, Hudbay is strategically well-positioned to deliver long-term value for all our stakeholders.”
Hudbay’s advancement of the Copper World and Cactus projects will form the third largest copper district in North America with the potential to become the second largest district of copper cathode production in the U.S.
The acquisition strengthens Hudbay’s strategic U.S. footprint, with Cactus expected to be a major producer of copper cathode, positioning Hudbay as one of only a few operators capable of producing refined copper domestically and supporting the U.S. critical minerals supply chain. It also enhances Hudbay’s industry leading copper growth pipeline in tier-one mining jurisdictions by creating a clear pathway to scale Hudbay’s annual copper production from approximately 125,000 tonnes today to more than 250,000 tonnes by 2030 with Copper World and other near-term optimization projects, and subsequently to more than 350,000 tonnes with the staged development of Cactus.
Arizona Sonoran is expected to benefit from significant operational efficiencies and regional synergies between Copper World and Cactus, including the strategic redeployment of the Copper World engineering and construction teams to Cactus, utilizing sulphuric acid produced at Copper World to leach oxide ore at Cactus and achieving approximately $5 to $10 million in estimated annual corporate synergies.
Following closing of the Transaction, the ASCU Shares will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange, and the Company will apply for Arizona Sonoran to cease to be a reporting issuer under applicable Canadian securities laws.
