aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaa, page-4

I was thinking maximum 46c. In a t/o like this there is usually a discount as the IAMG share price could drop. Has IAMG had a run lately?

On the other hand IAMG could rise in which case GGN would tend to follow.

Busy mob this IMG.

Gold Fields shareholders reject plan to merge assets with Canada's Iamgold
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2004 4:16 PM
- Canadian Press

IMG
8.85 +0.04 News




TORONTO, Dec 07, 2004 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) -- Iamgold Corp. was again seeking merger partners Tuesday after being shut out of another big business combination when shareholders of South Africa's Gold Fields Ltd. rejected a $2.1-billion US union with the Toronto miner.

"Obviously we were very disappointed with the results of that meeting," Iamgold CEO Joe Conway said at a very sparsely attended special meeting Tuesday that lasted only a few minutes. "As a result, the purchase agreement between ourselves and Gold Fields has been terminated and this transaction will not be completed."

According to Conway, more than 99 per cent of Iamgold shareholders who had voted were in favour of the merger. That support came despite a new deal struck last week that would have seen Gold Fields pull $200 million US in cash from the combined company, which included Gold Fields' non-South African assets.

News of the failed merger proposal in Johannesburg, where Gold Fields is based, caused Iamgold stock (CA:IMG) to drop by 54 cents, or six per cent, to $8.35 Cdn on the Toronto stock market Tuesday afternoon.

It is the second failed merger this year for Iamgold, after its shareholders rejected a proposal for a friendly merger with Wheaton River Minerals (CA:WRM) of Vancouver.

Iamgold also shook off a hostile takeover bid by Denver-based Golden Star Resources Ltd. (CA:GSC) , which successfully derailed the Wheaton River deal but failed to win support for its vision of creating an African-focused gold company.

Meanwhile, Wheaton River announced this week a deal to merge with Toronto's Goldcorp Inc. (CA:G) , to create North America's fifth-largest gold producer.

Even though the Gold Fields deal is off the table, Conway said Iamgold, which mines gold in western Africa, "still is one of the leading intermediate gold producers, with a strong balance sheet, and excellent growth prospects both externally and internally."

Iamgold currently produces 450,000 ounces of gold per year and has a goal of reaching 600,000 ounces annually by 2006. It is still on the lookout for a partner, and has several options "on the back burner," Conway said.

"We will be looking at companies that have projects that are late-stage development where we can come in and bring our capital and market expertise, if you like, to the table for them," Conway said in an interview after the meeting.

He said Iamgold would prefer to partner with one company, or buy one asset, that produces between 100,000 ounces and 150,000 ounces of gold per year, anywhere in the world.

In comparison, Gold Fields produces more than four million ounces of gold per year.

Analyst George Topping of Sprott Securities said Iamgold will eventually find a partner.

"You could imagine that those who are not already shareholders would think twice about becoming shareholders - it almost seems jinxed," Topping added.

"But I don't think this is over yet."

Rejection of the Iamgold merger means that a hostile bid for Gold Fields by fellow South African miner Harmony Gold Mining Co. is still on track. That merger would create the world's largest gold mining company.

Harmony had said earlier it would end its $6.5-billion-US bid for Gold Fields if the Iamgold deal were approved.

Gold Fields said its shareholders voted only 48.2 per cent in favour of the Iamgold combination.

"Gold Fields shareholders have now spoken," stated Harmony chief executive Bernard Swanepoel.

"With this behind us, we now look forward to engaging with Gold Fields management to agree the terms of a recommended merger of our two companies."

Gold Fields CEO Ian Cockerill said the outcome of the vote was delayed by three hours after a large institutional shareholder changed its mind and voted against the proposal. He declined to identify the shareholder but said its decision "ended up being important."

Russian mining giant OAC Norilsk Nickel, the largest shareholder in Gold Fields, voted against the Iamgold deal, as did other big stockholders, Cockerill said.

Harmony, which produces more than three million ounces of gold a year, had sales of nearly $1.21 billion US in 2003. Gold Fields produces more than four million ounces of gold a year and had 2003 sales of $1.53 billion US.

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