Thomson Geer advises on US$15m cross-border investment deal

The firm coordinated with Canadian firm Stikeman Elliot on the transaction

Thomson Geer advises on US$15m cross-border investment deal

Thomson Geer has advised resource-focused investment firm Queen’s Road Capital (QRC) on its investment in ASX-listed gold and copper development company Challenger Exploration.

Pursuant to the deal, QRC will purchase US$15m of convertible debentures to be issued by Challenger. The investment is being made concurrent with a $2.6m equity private placement by Challenger’s largest shareholder at $0.19 per share.

With a four-year term, the convertible debentures will carry 9% coupon and 3% establishment fee and will be convertible into Challenger common shares at a price of $0.25.

QRC confirmed that the investment proceeds and the private placement will be used to fund exploration and development activities at Challenger’s Hualilan gold project in Argentina and El Guayabo gold-copper project in Ecuador.

The company is backed by resources entrepreneur Andrew Forrest and fast food sector businessman Jack Cowin. Each of them hold 25% of QRC, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Partner Scott Gibson led the Thomson Geer team in assisting QRC with Australian regulatory aspects of the transaction. He was assisted by partner Paul Tanti, special counsel Cameron Bill and Helen Jin, and senior associate Chris Seotis.

The team worked alongside Canadian law firm Stikeman Elliott to finalise the deal.