Forsys Metals Corp. |FSY.T
George Forrest Int'l Afrique SPRL

Deal value C$553 million

Spread 07/13/09 C$1.93, or 38%

Shares of Forsys Metals Corp. edged up last week as the revised termination date for its acquisition by George Forrest International Afrique SPRL approaches. The C$553 million ($493 million) mining deal has been in limbo since it was amended in April over its financing.

GFIA is an affiliate of George Forrest International SA of Belgium. Both GFIA and GFI are private and operate in cement production, mining and civil engineering. The acquisition of Forsys, a Calgary, Alberta-based company with uranium mining operations in Namibia, had a March 18 termination date and was not conditioned on financing.

Nevertheless, GFIA and Forsys entered a revised agreement in April that extended that termination date to July 31 but maintained the purchase price at C$7 a share in order for GFIA to secure the deal financing.

Forsys claims that the deal with GFI is on track and that the uranium mining company has received checks as recently as last week and that GFI intends to move forward with the deal.

Forsys has some visibility into the financing arrangement GFIA is lining up for the deal, and there have not been talks about amending the share price, a Forsys spokesman said.

GFIA is based in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and has since late last year, in concert with planning the purchase of Forsys, unveiled a broader plan for investments in Namibian energy and construction infrastructure.

Forsys folded in March by offering the deal extension so GFIA could work through its financing even though the merger agreement was not conditioned on financing.

At that time, Forsys said the revised termination date of July 31 was designed to provide ample time for GFIA to line up financing, with the expectation that the deal would close well before that deadline.

With the deal extension, GFIA agreed to increase the breakup fee to C$20 million from C$11.4 million. If the deal does not close by the end of July, Forsys may have to say "enough is enough," the Forsys spokesman said.

GFIA was not available for comment.

Verenex Energy Inc. |VNX
CNPC International Ltd.

Deal value $440 million

Spread 07/13/09 $3.50, or 54%

A negotiation between Verenex Energy Inc. and the Libyan government over Verenex's acquisition by China's CNPC International Ltd. is supposedly progressing, but the acquisition agreement, conditioned on receipt of a consent from Libya's National Oil Corp., has been in limbo since February.

The deal has an Aug. 24 termination, and Libya may push against that termination date.

Verenex of Calgary, Alberta, operates an oil exploration and development project in Libya under a contract from 2005. The NOC has threatened that the Verenex claim to the oil field is invalid. Libya has said it would prefer to buy in the asset, but has made no firm offer.