Dominion Diamond Corporation has publicly rebuffed a $1.1. billion takeover bid from Washington Companies, saying the Missoula, Mont.–based conglomerate lacks the industry know-how to run the Canadian diamond miner.
The Washington Companies calls itself “a group of privately held North American mining, industrial, and transportation businesses founded by industrialist and entrepreneur Dennis R. Washington.” Washington, 82, was ranked by Forbes as the 83rd richest person in America in 2016, with a net worth of $5.8 billion.
The takeover bid, $13.50 a share, represents a 36 percent premium to Dominion’s March 17 closing price, Washington Companies said.
But in a statement, Dominion seemed unimpressed, both by the bid and by the way it was offered, complaining its outreach was “generic” and “boilerplate.”
“[Washington Companies] does not have experience in the highly specialized diamond mining and marketing industry,” said the statement. “[Washington Companies] also advised that they did not have any unique plans for the business.… The board considered the expression of interest to be opportunistic, and believes that it does not recognize all of the value in the company under its current business plan.”
