SIRIOS AND OVI COMBINE TO FORM AN OSISKO-BACKED GOLD COMPANY IN EEYOU ISTCHEE JAMES BAY
Combination creates a district-scale platform anchored by the Cheechoo gold deposit, with exploration upside at Corvet Est and PLEX
(All amounts expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated)
The combination creates a
Osisko Development Corp. executives
"This transaction marks the beginning of a new era for Sirios. We are building a winning team and deep bench strength with the addition of Jean-Félix Lepage as CEO, along with
Jean-Félix Lepage, Chief Executive Officer of OVI, added:
"This is an exceptional opportunity to accelerate the development of a promising gold portfolio in
"I see an excellent opportunity to combine forces and put our experience in project development to support Cheechoo, which is a greatly under-appreciated gold project. We are lucky to get to work alongside
Under the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, Sirios will issue an aggregate of 131,905,657 million common shares to OVI shareholders, with each holder of common shares of OVI (each, an "OVI Share") entitled to receive 2.34 Sirios common shares (each, a "Sirios Share") for each common share of OVI held (the "Arrangement Consideration"). The Arrangement Consideration represents an offer price of
Prior to closing of the Transaction, Sirios and OVI will agree on a corporate re-branding and name change for the combined company. Until such name change occurs, Sirios will continue to trade on the
Strategic Rationale: Creating a Major Gold Platform in
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Increased scale with a re-rating pathway
- The combined company will control three district-scale assets, placing the combined company into a new peer group of advanced Québec developers.
- The enhanced scale, asset quality, and institutional sponsorship created through the Transaction introduces a clear and credible pathway to a market re-rating.
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Osisko-backed leadership with proven mine-building credentials
- The Transaction brings Sirios into the Osisko ecosystem, a platform recognized for financing, advancing, and de-risking significant modern gold projects in
Canada . - Key senior members of the Osisko family, including
Sean Roosen , will join Sirios's board and management team after the completion of the Transaction.
- The Transaction brings Sirios into the Osisko ecosystem, a platform recognized for financing, advancing, and de-risking significant modern gold projects in
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A three-asset platform with district consolidation potential
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Cheechoo: A large-scale, predictable gold deposit with open-pittable geometry, higher-grade domains, significant growth potential, and proximity to Dhilmar's Éléonore Mine.
- The project hosts 1.3M oz at 1.12 g/t Au in the Indicated category and 1.7 Moz at 1.23 g/t Au in the Inferred category;1
- Significant exploration target ranging from 31 to 40 Mt at a range of 1.27 to 1.45 g/t Au.2
- PLEX: A 21,000-hectare district-scale land package hosting the Orfée Zone with multiple structural corridors from surface and untested at-depth and along-strike potential.
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Corvet Est: A 6,500 hectare district-scale land package comprising a historically drilled at-surface gold system with numerous attractive mineralized zones and significant untested potential. The project was once part of a
Virginia Gold Mines Inc. –Goldcorp Inc. (now Newmont Mining Corporation) joint venture and has been largely dormant since 2012. In 2025,Electric Elements Mining Corp. consolidated full ownership, later transferring the asset to OVI.
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Cheechoo: A large-scale, predictable gold deposit with open-pittable geometry, higher-grade domains, significant growth potential, and proximity to Dhilmar's Éléonore Mine.
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Driving synergies and expanding exploration potential
- Combines Sirios's geological expertise and intricate knowledge of the region, with OVI's capital markets and project advancement experience, creating a stronger, more complete team.
- Eliminates duplicative G&A, allowing more capital to be directed toward high-impact exploration.
- Creates a more diversified and broadened portfolio with district-scale discovery potential, and future M&A optionality.
- Unifies the capital structure to enable disciplined deployment of a single balance sheet across the highest-return opportunities, reducing single-asset risk.
Terms of the Arrangement Agreement
The Transaction is expected to be completed by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (
As part of the Transaction,
To be effective, the Transaction will require the approval of: (i) 66 ⅔% of the votes cast by shareholders of OVI, voting as a single class; and (ii) if applicable, a simple majority of the votes cast by minority OVI shareholders in accordance with Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") (excluding OVI Shares held by any "interested parties" and "related parties" of any interested parties (as such terms are defined in MI 61-101) in accordance with the requirements of MI 61-101).
The Arrangement Agreement includes representations, warranties and covenants customary for arrangement agreements. The Arrangement Agreement also includes: (i) customary deal protection and non-solicitation provisions in favour of Sirios, including a break fee of
OVI will be entitled to nominate two directors to the board of Sirios on closing of the Transaction. These are anticipated to be
As part of the Transaction,
Completion of the Transaction will be subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of necessary court, shareholder, and regulatory approvals, including approval of the
The Arrangement Agreement was approved by the boards of Directors of both Sirios and OVI.
In connection with the Transaction, each of the directors of OVI have entered into a voting support agreement with Sirios, pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote all of their OVI Shares (including any OVI Shares issued upon the exercise of any securities convertible, exercisable or exchangeable into OVI Shares) in favour of the Transaction.
Further details with respect to the Transaction will be included in an information circular to be mailed to OVI shareholders in connection with the special meeting of OVI shareholders. A copy of the Arrangement Agreement will be filed on each of Sirios' and OVI's SEDAR+ profiles at www.sedarplus.ca, and a copy of the information circular will be filed on OVI's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.
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Advisors and Counsel
About
About
About
About
About
The CEO of
About Jean-Félix Lepage
Technical Information
(1) For more information, refer to the "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the
(2) The potential quantity and grade of the target for further exploration is conceptual in nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. The assessment of the target for further exploration was completed by PLR, a consultant independent of Sirios. The estimation of the potential quantity and grade of the exploration target was based on the same drill hole database used for the Mineral Resource Estimate at the Cheechoo project. With the available drilling information, PLR developed conceptual gold mineralization volumes, constrained by interpreted lithological and structural models. The original core samples were composited, and the composited gold assays were capped (similarly to the Mineral Resource Estimate at the Cheechoo project) after evaluating the statistical distributions on probability plots. The gold values were interpolated into a three-dimensional block model using Ordinary Kriging. To estimate a tonnage, PLR used the same specific gravity values used for the Mineral Resource Estimate at the Cheechoo project. An open-pit scenario limited by the Cheechoo project's boundary as well as DSO stopes were run to constrain the exploration target.
Qualified Persons
The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by
Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.
In this news release, forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, statements regarding: the proposed acquisition by Sirios of all of the OVI Shares pursuant to the Arrangement Agreement and the terms thereof; the receipt of necessary shareholder, court and regulatory approvals for the Transaction; the anticipated timeline for completing the Transaction, if at all; the holding of the special meeting of the OVI shareholders and mailing of the management information circular regarding same; the proposed return of capital by
In respect of the forward-looking statements, Sirios and OVI have relied on certain assumptions that they believe are reasonable at this time, including assumptions as to the ability of the parties to receive, in a timely manner and on satisfactory terms, the necessary regulatory, court, shareholder, stock exchange and other third party approvals and the ability of the parties to satisfy, in a timely manner, the other conditions to the completion of the Transaction. This timeline may change for a number of reasons, including unforeseen delays in preparing meeting materials; inability to secure necessary regulatory, court, shareholder, stock exchange or other third-party approvals in the time assumed or the need for additional time to satisfy the other conditions to the completion of the Transaction. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these times.
Risks and uncertainties that may cause such differences include but are not limited to: the risk that the Transaction may not be completed on a timely basis, if at all; the conditions to the consummation of the Transaction may not be satisfied; the risk that the Transaction may involve unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; the possibility that legal proceedings may be instituted against Sirios, OVI, and/or others relating to the Transaction and the outcome of such proceedings; the possible occurrence of an event, change or other circumstance that could result in termination of the Transaction; risks relating to the failure to obtain necessary shareholder and court approval; other risks inherent in the mining industry. Failure to obtain the requisite approvals, or the failure of the parties to otherwise satisfy the conditions to or complete the Transaction, may result in the Transaction not being completed on the proposed terms, or at all. In addition, if the Transaction is not completed, the announcement of the Transaction and the dedication of substantial resources of Sirios and OVI to the completion of the Transaction could have a material adverse impact on each of Sirios' and OVI's share price, its current business relationships and on the current and future operations, financial condition, and prospects of each of Sirios and OVI.
Neither the
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