The Toronto Stock Exchange has accepted Osisko Mining Corp.'s notice of intention to make a normal course issuer bid. Under the terms of the normal course issuer bid, Osisko may acquire up to 11,669,526 of its common shares, representing approximately 10 per cent of the public float of Osisko as of Oct. 15, 2008.
The board of directors of Osisko believes that the underlying value of the corporation may not be reflected in the market price of its common shares from time to time and that, accordingly, the purchase of shares will increase the proportionate share interest of, and be advantageous to, all remaining shareholders.
As of Oct. 15, 2008, the corporation has 165,628,918 common shares outstanding. The average daily trading volume of Osisko's shares over the last six completed calendar months was 276,110. Accordingly, under TSX rules and policies, Osisko is entitled on any trading day to purchase a maximum of 69,027 shares.
The purchases may commence on Oct. 21, 2008, and will terminate on Oct. 20, 2009, or on such earlier date as Osisko may complete its purchases pursuant to the notice of intention to make a normal course issuer bid filed with the TSX.
All shares purchased by the corporation will be on the open market through the facilities of TSX in accordance with the policies of the TSX and will be surrendered by the corporation to its transfer agent for cancellation. The prices that Osisko will pay for any of the common shares purchased will be the market price of the shares at the time of acquisition. In the last 12 months preceding the date hereof, Osisko has not repurchased any of its common shares.
Osisko has appointed Thomas Weisel Partners Canada Inc. to make the purchases on its behalf.
Sean Roosen, president and chief executive officer of Osisko, stated: "By instituting this normal course issuer bid, management has taken the decision to help stabilize downward pressure in our share price, which we believe is largely due to turbulent financial markets. The normal course issuer bid will be used with great discretion on the part of management for the sole purpose of stabilizing the share price, which we feel does not currently reflect the underlying value of the corporation. Osisko is well financed with $140-million in cash and the corporation continues to build value in the company by developing the Canadian Malartic gold project, which we consider to be one of the premier gold projects in North America."
