Reflecting on the completion of the transaction on Wednesday, Endeavour president and CEO Sebastien de Montessus said that the group was entering a new chapter in its history.

“Leveraging off our strategic position as the largest gold producer in West Africa’s highly prospective and under explored Birimian Greenstone Belt, we believe that we now have all the attributes required to create sustainable shareholder value over the long term. Our production base is diversified across six core operating mines in three countries. We have an industry-leading development pipeline of six greenfield projects and the largest exploration portfolio in the region. And lastly, our business is underpinned by a healthy balance sheet and strong cash flow generating capabilities to support our recently initiated sustainable dividend.”

De Montessus said the group’s sole priority in 2021 was to unlock value organically through mine life extensions, asset optimisation initiatives, and by advancing brownfield and greenfield projects through studies and further exploration.

Corporate efforts were focused on shareholder returns and he said that Endeavour might increase its dividend or initiate a share buyback programme as part of its capital allocation framework.

“We believe that our re-rating potential is also underpinned by our enhanced combined capital markets profile, with greater scale and liquidity to attract generalist investors. In addition, investor appeal is expected to be further increased with our upcoming listing on the Premium segment of the London Stock Exchange in late second-quarter-2021, targeting inclusion in the FTSE indices.”

Teranga is a fully owned subsidiary of Endeavour and will delist from the TSX on February 16.