History
Paramount Gold & Silver grew from a 2007 fundraising into a Mexico and Nevada explorer, then was split up and acquired by Coeur Mining in April 2015.
2007-2008: Raising money and getting listed
The record opens in April 2007, when Paramount closed a private placement of 10,398,496 units at $2.10 each, raising $21,836,841 to explore its mining properties and fund working capital. Each unit carried one share and a half warrant, and shares outstanding rose to 46,422,478. In July 2007 the American Stock Exchange cleared its securities for listing.
A hiccup followed in April 2008, when the exchange said the company failed its settlement rules because the DTC, the clearing service, had suspended services in March. Trading stayed suspended until DTC resumed on April 30, 2008, and the problem was resolved. In September 2008 Paramount agreed to buy out Tara Gold Resources' remaining 30% of their San Miguel joint venture in Mexico, closing on October 1 for 7,350,000 shares, cancelled invoices and 100,000 pesos for concessions.
2009: Financing, a failed merger and a lawsuit
In March 2009 the Tara Gold paperwork was filed with Mexico's Bureau of Mines, clearing the condition on the escrowed shares. FCMI Financial subscribed for 12 million units at C$0.75, raising C$9,000,000, and two of its nominees joined the board. Paramount also bought Magnetic Resources and an option on the Temoris project, and collected $1 million from Mexoro Minerals on defaulted debentures, keeping security over Mexoro's Guazapares concessions.
In July 2009 Paramount agreed in principle to combine with Klondex Mines, offering 1.45 shares for each Klondex share. Its two largest holders, FCMI and Garibaldi Resources, agreed to back it. On September 25 Klondex terminated the agreement, alleging misstatements in a November 2008 technical report. Paramount rejected that and sued in British Columbia for the US$2.85 million break fee plus damages. The beats do not record how the suit ended. In October 2009 Paramount sold up to 16 million new shares at US$1.25 through underwriters, for expected net proceeds of about US$18.7 million, with FCMI buying 4,000,000.
2010-2012: Sleeper and a further raising
In June 2010 Paramount agreed to buy X-Cal Resources, whose main asset was the Sleeper Gold Mine in Nevada, in a deal valued at US$31 million. It closed on August 23, 2010, with X-Cal holders receiving 22,001,247 new Paramount shares. The company then had assets in both Mexico and Nevada, and planned drilling at Sleeper.
The record is then quiet until March 2012, when Paramount closed a private placement of 10,417,776 shares at $2.05 each, raising $21,356,441 with no warrants. It diluted existing holders by about 7% and was meant to fund the San Miguel drill program and early-stage economic studies for San Miguel and Sleeper. Shares on issue ended 2012 at 147,546,184. The record is quiet through 2013 and most of 2014, with shares reaching 162,027,422 by the end of 2014, a rise the beats do not explain.
2014-2015: Split and sale to Coeur
On December 16, 2014 Paramount agreed to be acquired by Coeur Mining. Its Nevada assets, including Sleeper, would first be spun off into a new company, with Paramount holders owning about 95.1% and Coeur 4.9%. Each Paramount share would then convert into 0.2016 Coeur shares, leaving Paramount holders with about 24% of Coeur. Coeur also paid $5,250,000 for a 0.7% royalty on San Miguel.
Both the spin-off and merger completed on April 17, 2015. The Nevada assets went into Paramount Gold Nevada Corp., listed on the NYSE MKT as PZG. About 32.7 million Coeur shares, worth roughly $185.9 million at the April 16 close, were issued to Paramount holders. Paramount became a wholly owned Coeur subsidiary, renamed Coeur San Miguel Corp., and its directors and officers left. Its exchange filed to delist its securities on April 20, and on April 30, 2015 it deregistered with the SEC, ending its reporting obligations.
Written from the 20 story beats below (2007 to 30 Apr 2015), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.