Pallinghurst biddding for Tanzanite One via Gemfields subsidiary

Gemfields Resources Plc, which has rights to the Faberge luxury goods brand, has....

Gemfields Resources Plc, which has rights to the Faberge luxury goods brand, has made a 33 million pound ($58.10 million) takeover offer for Tanzanite One Ltd to expand its range of products from emeralds, it said on Friday.The proposed takeover, under which shareholders would be able to choose cash or Gemfields shares, would create the world’s leading miner of coloured gemstones, a statement said.Tanzanite One is the biggest miner of the blue-violet gemstone only found in the east African nation of Tanzania.Gemfields, majority owned by Pallinghurst Resources, already owns the largest emerald mine in the world in Zambia and cutting facilties in India.Gemfields and Pallinghurst together have bought on the market 13.7 percent of Tanzanite One shares and have a conditional irrevocable undertaking to buy an additional 19 percent.The cash offer of 45 pence compares to the closing price of Tanzanite One shares of 43.75 pence on Thursday. The shares have shot up 65 percent since Sept. 1, shortly after Gemfields began buying shares.Gemfields said it formally wrote to Tanzanite One on Sept. 2 proposing a merger and got a reply saying the board would consider the proposal at their next meeting on Sept. 19.Gemfields said it has not yet made a formal takeover offer, but put out the statement about the proposal due to market speculation.Pallinghurst, led by former BHP Billiton CEO Brian Gilbertson, is reviving the Faberge brand it bought from consumer goods group Unilever, which had used it mainly for cosmetics.The original Faberge firm was founded in 1842 by Russian jeweller Gustav Faberge, who gained fame for designing elaborate jewel-encrusted eggs for Russian czars.A main leg of Faberge’s new business model will be to market branded coloured gemstones like emeralds and rubies, a sector that has been largely ignored by major mining firms and luxury goods groups. (Reporting by Eric Onstad; editing by Rory Channing)