Africa-focused Perseus Mining on Wednesday launched a definitive, binding offer to acquire full control of Predictive Discovery, upping the pressure on Robex Resources with a proposal that Predictive’s board has already deemed superior.

The Australian and Toronto-listed gold producer said it would acquire all shares in Predictive that it did not already own – Perseus holds 17.8% – through a scheme of arrangement.

The offer comprises 0.1360 Perseus shares for each Predictive share, valuing Predictive at A$0.778 a share based on Perseus’s last close. That represents a 24.5% premium to Predictive’s most recent closing price and a 34.8% premium to its ten-day volume-weighted average price.

Predictive’s board, after consulting advisers, has unanimously concluded the offer qualifies as a “superior proposal” under its existing agreement with Robex Resources. Robex now has five business days, or until December 10, to match or improve its bid.

Perseus has offered a binding A$37-million loan facility to Predictive, giving the target immediate liquidity to cover any Robex termination fee, fund working capital and advance early development work.

For Perseus, the move consolidates its position as Predictive’s largest shareholder and secures control of the Bankan gold project in Guinea, one of Africa’s most significant undeveloped gold assets.

The company said the acquisition would strengthen its African gold pipeline and expand its geographic footprint into a fifth jurisdiction. Bankan’s projected 249 000 oz/y production profile would augment Perseus’s existing 500 000 oz/y to 600 000 z/y output.

Perseus said its development team, currently advancing the Nyanzaga project, was “uniquely placed to de-risk, optimise and ultimately unlock the full potential of Bankan”.

The company also highlighted the project’s exploration upside across the Siguiri Basin and the potential for a value uplift once Bankan is integrated into Perseus’s larger, more diversified platform.

If the scheme proceeds, Predictive shareholders other than Perseus would own 18.4% of the combined group.

Meanwhile, Robex Resources responded that its board of directors was evaluating its options in response to the superior proposal by Perseus.