NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp. said Monday that it would buy copper miner Equinox Minerals Ltd. in a deal valued at C$7.3 billion, continuing the flurry of deal-making activity in the red-hot business of metals production.
Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX) (THE:CA:ABX) will pay C$8.15 a share in cash for Equinox Minerals Ltd. (THE:CA:EQN) (AUSTRALIAN:AU:EQN) , (PINK:EQXMF) , representing a 30% premium to the stock’s Feb. 25 closing price — the last trading day before Equinox said it would make a takeover bid for Canada’s Lundin Mining Corp. (THE:CA:LUN) (PINK:LUNMF)
The acquisition of Equinox would add a high-quality, long-life asset to our portfolio and is consistent with our strategy of increasing gold and copper reserves through exploration and acquisitions,” Toronto-based Barrick Gold said.
U.S.-listed shares of Barrick Gold fell 4% in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The deal comes after Chinese miner Minmetals Resources Ltd. bid C$6.3billion for Equinox Minerals on April 3, after which Equinox said it was approached by “a number of parties.” Adding to the rash of deals, Equinox in March reiterated its offer of C$4.8 billion for Lundin. See story about Equinox offer for Lundin.
As part of the agreement with Barrick Gold, Equinox said Monday it will withdraw its bid for Lundin.
Equinox shares rallied 11% in Toronto trading, while Lundin made fractional gains.
A closing date for the transaction between Barrick Gold and Equinox was not provided, but it’s expected to immediately add to Barrick’s earnings.
Barrick said it has sufficient cash resources and committed financing to fund the acquisition.
Financial advisers to Barrick were Morgan Stanley & Co. (NYSE:MS) and RBC Capital Markets (NYSE:RY) (THE:CA:RY) . CIBC World Markets Inc. (NYSE:CM) (THE:CA:CM) , Goldman Sachs & Co. (NYSE:GS) and TD Securities Inc. (NYSE:TD) (THE:CA:TD) acted as financial advisers to Equinox
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