It seems M&A activity is picking up in the gold & Cu space maybe someone is looking for an opportunity for a turnaround story for BDR cricky Todd from discovery could get more gold out than these blokes & that saying something as he has a heart of gold but no idea how to mine it.
Cheers
Hot legs
Tomorrows AFR OZ Minerals seeks gold at Barrick’s Cowal
Fundies after a genuine mid-market gold force to invest in may not have to wait too much longer.
Evolution’s $410 million merger with La Mancha’s Australian assets revealed an appetite for deals among the mid-sized players in the sector.
Now Street Talk understands OZ Minerals has thrown its hat into the ring for Barrick Gold’s auction of its Cowal mine in NSW.
OZ unveiled a strategic update last week in which the company said it was open to acquisitions outside its primary commodity, copper. OZ chief executive Andrew Cole also revealed a new dividend strategy that could mean payments were halted in periods when acquisitions were made.
“Copper is our backbone; we have a very solid and large resource portfolio in copper but I think other assets in other commodities can complement that,” Cole said last week. “We are in active due diligence on a number of assets at the moment.”
Cowal would fit OZ Minerals’ strict new criteria.
Barrick, advised by Credit Suisse, took first-round bids at the start of the month, with second-round bids expected by mid-May.
The Cowal mine, which is expected to fetch upwards of $500 million, produced 268,000 ounces of gold in 2014 at an all-in price of $US787 an ounce. The Canadian gold giant is also selling a stake in its Porgera asset in Papua new Guinea.
Other bidders for Cowal included South African group Gold Fields, Chinese giant Zijin, Evolution and Independence Group.
Meanwhile, it’s understood the underbidder on the $410 million La Mancha sale was Northern Star Resources, while Independence Group also had a look.
La Mancha took a 31 per cent stake in Evolution as part of the deal and agreed to inject $100 million into the business. Evolution management subsequently told investors the deal did not rule it out of the race for Barrick’s assets.
Elsewhere, as revealed by Street Talk Online, one of the major brokers was sounding out fund managers about South Korean steelmaker POSCO’s $122 million stake in Sandfire Resources on Tuesday morning.
It’s understood investors were told there was interest for the stake at a 5 per cent discount to market price.
BDR Price at posting:
23.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
