(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 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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