03:43 PM EST, 11/11/2016 (MT Newswires) -- Kirkland Lake Gold (KLG.TO) acknowledged Friday that it received an acquisition proposal worth $1.44 billion in cash and shares from Silver Standard Resources. In September, Kirkland Lake and Newmarket Gold NMI.TO) entered into a definitive agreement to merge the two companies, creating a new mid-tier gold company.

The company's board of directors and special committee have determined after receiving advice from its legal advisors and three separate financial advisors that the new proposal was not financially superior to the Newmarket transaction. In particular, the company's advisors concluded that even if the ascribed value of the offer could be substantiated following an assessment of the value of the Silver Standard shares, it still was not financially superior to the Newmarket transaction.

Kirkland says it believes that the Newmarket transaction is in the best interests of Kirkland Lake Gold and its shareholders and strongly recommends that Kirkland shareholders vote in favour of it.

KLG shares were up 2% to $8.04 in late trading.