Alamos makes $780-million takeover bid for Aurizon Mines

Alamos Gold Inc. is making a takeover bid for Aurizon Mines Ltd. that values the Vancouver-based company at $780-million.

Toronto-based Alamos is offering the equivalent of $4.65 per Aurizon share in cash and stock.

That's $1.24 per share or 36 per cent above Aurizon's closing Friday closing price.

The cash portion of the Alamos offer is capped at a maximum of $305-million while the stock portion would be up to $23.5-million Alamos shares.

Alamos currently owns about 26.5 million Aurizon shares, or about 16 per cent of its issued stock.

Most of those shares were acquired recently from other Aurizon shareholders and announced Monday by Alamos along with the takeover bid.

Alamos had a market value of about $2-billion prior to the announcement, based on shares at $16.92 when the Toronto Stock Exchange closed Friday.