Mastermyne will also change the name of its holding company to Metarock and has forecast revenue for the combined organisation of $590 million with an EBITDA of $62.5 million and profits before tax of $20 million. Its order book will be worth about $1.7 billion.

Mastermyne said the enterprise value of Pybar was about $99 million and the takeover has been structured so that $23.5 million will be paid in cash. There will also be a scrip consideration of Mastermyne shares to the value of $23.5 million, escrowed for 12 months.

Pybar shareholders will end up with a 17 per cent stake. Its owners Paul Rouse will hold 10.7 per cent of Mastermyne, Brendan Rouse will own 5.3 per cent and Andrew Rouse 1.7 per cent. Mastermyne’s current market capitalisation is about $114 million.

Mastermyne’s strategy has been to expand into hard rock mining and it said the Pybar acquisition was a “compelling opportunity”. It was also expected to be earnings-per-share accretive by 2022 before synergies were taken into account.

Pybar has been focused on gold, copper, zinc and lead and would allow the coal-reliant Mastermyne to diversify across commodity cycles.

Mastermyne managing director Tony Caruso said the deal would accelerate growth of the company to become a leading national mining services company.

“The Pybar acquisition is highly complementary to Mastermyne’s existing underground business and expands the combined group’s addressable markets to support ongoing growth, in addition to increasing the earnings reliance of the group by diversifying our commodity exposure,” Caruso said.