(Bloomberg) -- Newmont Corp.’s $17 billion takeover proposal for Newcrest Mining (OTC:NCMGF) Ltd. marks the industry’s biggest gold mining deal — and one that’s unlikely to get challenged by rivals.
Newmont is the world’s top gold producer and its proposal reunites the Denver-based company with an Australian company it spun off in 1990. The all-stock offer, disclosed Monday, won’t be challenged by a rival bid from Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Corp., the No. 2 bullion producer, according to its Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow.
“There is a difference between value merger acquisitions and getting bigger for the sake of getting bigger,” Bristow, who has long predicted industry consolidation, said Monday in an interview.
Newmont shares fell 5.1% to $47.30 at 12:19 p.m. in New York following its proposal, the lowest share price since Dec. 30.
Newmont’s proposal follows a series of gold takeovers as producers struggle with declining output and higher input costs for mining, and increasingly harder-to-mine deposits. Newmont’s proposal comes as Agnico Eagle (NYSE:AEM) Mines Ltd. and Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) Corp. are tied up trying to close a $4.8 billion takeover of Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) Inc., one of the biggest mining deals in the past year. That comes within a year of Agnico Eagle, the third-biggest gold producer, closing its $10.4 billion takeover for Kirkland Lake Gold (NYSE:KL) Ltd.
The Newcrest offer is an all-stock deal, with 0.38 of a Newmont share for one share of the Australian mining company. Newcrest shares surged 9.3% to close at A$24.53 following the announcement. Combined with Newmont’s Monday stock drop, the offer carries a premium of about 6.7%.
Newmont’s offer “is motivated mainly by valuation” and is “a unique opportunity to add exposure in preferred mining jurisdictions” such as Australia and Canada, Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) analysts Fahad Tariq and Jessica Xu said in a note to clients. The analysts said they see “limited potential for operational synergies” with the deal.
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