Eldorado president and CEO George Burns answers questions during a news conference in Athens, on Sept. 11, 2017.Petros Giannakouris/The Associated Press
The chief executive officer and the board chair of Eldorado Gold Corp. ELD-T announced their retirements on the same day, setting off a succession plan at the Canadian miner in the middle of its takeover of Foran Mining Corp. FOM-T
In February, Eldorado, a Vancouver-based company that owns multiple mines overseas, announced a deal to acquire Foran, also headquartered in Vancouver, for $3.8-billion, mostly in stock. If approved by shareholders, the deal would add Foran’s McIlvenna Bay copper and zinc development in Saskatchewan to Eldorado’s portfolio of gold assets. However, investors initially expressed confusion over the transaction and both companies saw their share prices slide.
A shareholder vote on the deal is now set for April 7. Late Wednesday, Eldorado put out voting materials for the transaction, which included the news that CEO George Burns will retire in the third quarter of 2026 and board chair Steven Reid will retire at the company’s 2027 annual meeting of shareholders.
Christian Milau, who is currently president of Eldorado, will succeed Mr. Burns as CEO. Mr. Milau is the former CEO of Equinox Gold Corp. and joined Eldorado in September, 2025. At the time, Eldorado’s board chair said the company had been planning for its next leg of growth and had conducted a comprehensive search to someone with the right blend of experience, vision, and leadership.
Eldorado Gold and Foran Mining shares tumble after companies announce $3.8-billion acquisition
While Mr. Milau’s eventual transition to CEO was expected – and Mr. Burns, the outgoing CEO, will remain a member of the board – the timing of the announcements in the middle of an acquisition is unusual.
In a statement Wednesday, Mr. Reid, the retiring board chair, said “the planned transition reflects a deliberate and well-sequenced approach to leadership succession, aligned with the delivery of Skouries and the long-term interests of the company.”
Eldorado’s largest producing mines are in Quebec and Turkey, and the company is close to starting production on a new development in Greece, known as the Skouries project. By acquiring McIlvenna Bay, Eldorado is hoping investors will like that it is not only adding copper, which will comprise 15 per cent of the combined company’s revenue, but also growing with a young mine that will be in production for years.
When selling the deal to investors and analysts, Eldorado has touted a “re-rating” opportunity, which occurs when investors reward companies with higher premiums relative to their net asset values. In other words, the shares are “rated” higher.
Formal talks between the two miners started in July, 2025, according to takeover filings, but the relationship between the executive teams goes further back. In 2024, Eldorado sold off some non-core assets and a collection of them, in Romania, were sold to Varvara Development Group Ltd., whose executive chairman is Dan Myerson. Mr. Myerson is also the CEO of Foran.
Foran’s talks with Eldorado began after Foran solicited interest in a corporate transaction, and a number of parties examined the prospect, according to filings. No other companies opted to proceed, so Foran entered into exclusive talks with Eldorado.
If the deal is approved, it will cap off a remarkable five-year run for Foran. A new management team was put in place in late 2020, and the company has since permitted, financed and built most of its mine.
However, analysts have questioned the rationale of a deal with Eldorado. The gold miner is close to finishing construction of its new copper-gold project in Greece, and Foran is close to completing its own mine construction. Both miners are primed to profit off their hard work over the past five years, and aren’t in need of financing from one another.
If shareholders approve the transaction, the combined miner will remain headquartered in Vancouver and will do business under the Eldorado Gold name. At the moment, Foran has two large shareholders who hold considerable sway: Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., which owns 17.6 per cent of its common shares, and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., which owns 12.9 per cent.