February 25, 2019
(Reuters) – Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp on Monday offered to buy U.S. rival Newmont Mining Corp in a nearly $18 billion all-stock deal that would create a global gold mining giant.
Barrick said Newmont shareholders would hold about 44 percent of the outstanding shares of the combined company under its proposed offer.
“The combination of Barrick and Newmont will create what is clearly the world’s best gold company, with the largest portfolio of Tier One gold assets,” Barrick Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said in a statement.
Newmont shareholders would receive 2.5694 common shares of Barrick for each outstanding Newmont share, the company said. That translates to a price of about $33 per Newmont share, valuing the company at $17.85 billion, according to Reuters calculations.
Newmont could not immediately be reached for comment outside usual business hours.
Deal-making in the gold sector had been largely dormant in recent years, as companies focused on cutting costs amid investor criticism of inadequate management of capital.
Last week, Barrick said it was considering making an all-stock bid for Newmont. Newmont had declined to comment on the matter.
(Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)
