Canada’s Equinox Gold Corp will buy rival Leagold Mining Corp for $769.3 million, the company said on Monday, the latest consolidation in the industry that has seen deals worth $40 billion so far this year.
Led by top producers Newmont Goldcorp Corp and Barrick Gold Corp, miners are bulking up to replace dwindling reserves and win back investors who in recent years shunned the sector because of disappointing returns.
The offer, which implies a no-premium consideration of $2.70 per share, will help Equinox add Leagold’s four mines in Mexico and Brazil to its own California-Brazil focused portfolio.
Leagold shareholders will get 0.331 of an Equinox share for each share they own and will hold 45% of the combined company, Equinox said.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020.
In a related development, London’s Centamin Plc earlier on Monday agreed to assess the feasibility of a merger with Canada’s Endeavour Mining Corp, having earlier rejected a 1.47 billion pound (US$1.89 billion) all-stock takeover proposal as inadequate.