Royal Gold to acquire Sandstorm in $3.5 billion transaction
Royal Gold Inc. [RGLD-NASDAQ] has agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. [SSL-TSX, SAND-NYSE American] in an all-share transaction with an implied value of $3.5 billion.
Under the agreement, Sandstorm shareholders will receive 0.0625 of a Royal Gold common share for each Sandstorm share currently held, implying a 21% premium on the 20-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of Sandstorm shares for the period ended July 3, 2025, and a 17% premium to the closing price of Sandstorm shares on the New York Stock Exchange on July 3, 2024.
Concurrent with the Sandstorm transaction, Royal Gold will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Horizon Copper in an all-cash transaction worth $196 million.
Horizon Copper shareholders will receive $2.00 for each Horizon share held, implying an 85% premium on the 20-day VWP of the Horizon shares for the period ended July 4, 2025.
Horizon Copper holds non-operating interests in high-grade, low-cost copper assets. Its portfolio includes a 30% interest in the copper-gold Hod Maden project in northeastern Turkey. It also has a nearly 25% equity ownership in the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia. Hod Maden accounts for 11% of Sandstorm’s net asset value.
Horizon Copper shares jumped 67.24% or 78 cents to $1.94. The shares previously traded in a 52-week range of $1.49 and 58 cents.
SSR Mining Inc. [SSRM-TSX, NASDAQ, SSR-ASX] recently said the Hod Maden joint venture has approved early-works capital investments in 2025 of approximately $60 to $100 million.
Upon completion of the Sandstorm and Horizon transactions, Royal Gold will continue under name Royal Gold and will host a robust and precious metals streaming and royalty company with industry-leading diversification and growth profile.
On Monday, Royal Gold shares eased 9.8% or US$17.70 to US$162.12. The shares trade in a 52-week range of US$191.78 and US$125.69.
The combined portfolios under Royal Gold are expected to create the world’s most diversified, large scale precious metals streaming and royalty company with a mature, America’s focused portfolio of 393 royalties and streams, including 80 cash-flowing assets, of which no single asset is expected to account for more than 13% of the net asset value.
The pro-forma 2025 revenue mix is expected to be approximately 87% precious metals (with 75% of total revenues being gold) and material gold-focused growth assets via Sandstorm’s development portfolio. Key development assets include MARA (Glencore), Hod Maden (SSR), Great Bear (Kinross Gold Corp.), Platreef (Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.) and Warintza (Solaris Resources Inc.).
Royal Gold’s portfolio includes a streaming agreement with Centerra Gold Inc.[CG-TSX, CGAU-NYSE] and the Mount Milligan mine in British Columbia.
“Today is a significant milestone for Sandstorm and its shareholders, marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter,” said Sandstorm President and CEO Nolan Watson.
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