Orla Mining (TSX: OLA) shareholders voted 99.91% in favour of the company’s business combination with Equinox Gold (TSX: EQX) at a special meeting held July 22, clearing one of the last hurdles between the two gold producers and a completed deal.
Equinox holders were nearly as emphatic the same morning, approving the issuance of up to 421.8 million shares by a margin of 99.83%. Roughly 64% of Equinox’s outstanding shares were represented at that vote.
Under the arrangement, first announced in May, Orla holders are to receive one Equinox share plus a nominal cash payment of $0.0001 for each Orla share held. Existing Equinox shareholders will own about 67% of the combined company on a fully diluted in-the-money basis, with former Orla holders taking the remaining 33%.
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What’s left is largely procedural. Orla will seek a final order from the Supreme Court of British Columbia at a hearing expected on July 28. Canadian and Mexican competition clearances have already been granted, as have TSX and NYSE American approvals covering both the transaction and the listing of the new shares.
Closing is expected on or about July 31.
Jason Simpson, Orla’s president and chief executive, noted the company has gone from a single development asset to an intermediate producer with operating and development assets across North America, and said the tie-up “propels us to a senior gold producer with industry leading growth potential.”
The combined entity keeps the Equinox Gold name and is expected to produce roughly 1.1 million ounces of gold in 2026 from six mines across Canada, the United States, Mexico and Nicaragua. Three Canadian operations, consisting of Greenstone, Valentine and Orla’s Musselwhite, account for close to 700,000 of those ounces. Darren Hall remains chief executive, with Simpson joining as president and Chuck Jeannes chairing an eleven-member board.
Equinox Gold last traded at $13.15 on the TSX.
