File photo of Sean Roosen, President and CEO of Osisko Exploration.
The chief executive of Osisko Mining Corp. (TSX:OSK) says the battle with Goldcorp over an unsolicited takeover bid is getting in the way of its dividend repayment plan.
The company has been clear on its opposition to the hostile bid, but Osisko CEO Sean Roosen now says the bid is preventing the Montreal-based miner's shareholders from getting a dividend.
Roosen says Osisko had set the stage for significant dividend policy for 2014, a plan he says he would "like to get back to."
Some of that money, he says, is now being spent on lawyers and bankers dealing with a legal challenge against Goldcorp, which Osisko accuses of breaking a confidentiality agreement and failing to honour a standstill agreement.
Roosen again urged shareholders to reject the Goldcorp deal, saying there was no real premium, a day after posting a profit of $10.5-million or two cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared with a profit of $12.9-million or three cents per share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $185.8-million, down from $191.1-million in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Under terms of the Goldcorp bid, Osisko shareholders would receive 0.146 of a Goldcorp share and $2.26 in cash per Osisko share.
However, Osisko shares have traded well above the implied value of the Goldcorp offer since the bid was first announced. On Wednesday, Osisko shares were down eight cents to $6.94 on the Toronto Stock Exchange at mid-day.
Osisko's main asset is the Canadian Malartic gold mine in northern Quebec where it has been ramping up operations since its first commercial production in May 2011.