I think that Newmont will tender the shares to us in the end.
Toronto, Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Barrick Gold Corp., North America's second-largest
gold producer, is making a hostile offer to buy the 90.1 percent of Argentina Gold
Corp. that it doesn't own for about C$128.3 million (US$83.2 million), to expand its
holdings in the Andean desert.
Argentina Gold, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based exploration company with a
promising deposit in the Argentine Andes, said Barrick notified it of the unsolicited
C$4-a-share bid after negotiations between the companies broke down.
Toronto-based Barrick had been widely expected to take advantage of its rivals' need
for cash by buying properties. The company, which bought up 9.9 percent of Argentina
Gold shares in the past few months, has about US$400 million in cash, no debt and
US$250 million in annual free cash flow.
With gold prices below US$300 an ounce making many mining companies unprofitable,
investors ''are anxious to make money on their holdings,'' said David Christensen, an
analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. That makes shareholders ''more susceptible to a
hostile bid than ever before,'' he said.
Larger Offer
Barrick had been willing to pay more per share to gain the board's support, said Vincent
Borg, company spokesman. When Argentina Gold's directors balked, ''we opted to go
directly to shareholders'' with a lower offer, he said.
Argentina Gold said Barrick's first offer was C$5.50 a share.
Barrick, which will produce 3.1 million ounces of gold this year, has been a 40 percent
partner in Argentina Gold's Veladero project since 1994. The deposit, thought to
contain about 2 million ounces of gold so far, is only 3.7 miles from Pasqua, Barrick's
new discovery that contains more than 11 million ounces of gold. ''In Veladero, the
economics could be improved by taking advantage of our infrastructure'' planned for
Pasqua, Borg said.
Barrick said its offer is contingent on acquiring at least 50.1 percent of Argentina Gold's
35.6 million common shares.
The offer represents a 70 percent premium over Argentina Gold's average price during
the past 20 trading days, Barrick said.
Argentina Gold shares rose C$2.04, or 69 percent, to C$5.00 in trading of 6.18 million,
nearly eight times its three-month average, on the Vancouver Stock Exchange.
In October, Newmont Mining Corp., North America's biggest gold producer, acquired
2.55 million Argentina Gold shares, or 7.2 percent, for C$5 million, or about C$1.96
each. Doug Hock, spokesman for the Denver-based company, said Newmont hadn't
decided whether to tender its shares to Barrick.
The Veladero deposit has some geological similarities to Minera Yanacocha,
Newmont's major, low-cost gold deposit in Peru, Hock said.
Barrick shares fell C$0.45 to C$28.60 in Toronto and fell 1/4 to 18 1/2 in New York.
Newmont fell 3/16 to 18.
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