Oz Minerals CEO Andrew Cole eyes off four takeover targets – by Simon Evans (Australian Mining Review – May 25, 2015)

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OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Cole says the copper and gold company has four potential acquisitions it is doing due diligence on but will only proceed if the price tags are at a level that deliver good value.

Mr Cole says while geographic diversification may be an outcome if OZ does make an acquisition it is not necessarily a driver of the company’s acquisition strategy.

OZ operates just one mine, the Prominent Hill copper and gold mine in South Australia, which employs 1200 workers. He made the comments at the OZ annual meeting in Adelaide, where the company is in the process of shifting its head office to from its previous base of Melbourne.

OZ chairman Neil Hamilton said after the meeting the price paid by Evolution Mining for Barrick’s Cowal mine in New South Wales appeared to be a steep price. “It’s a robust number,” Mr Hamilton said.

Evolution bought the mine in a $US550 million ($702 million) transaction on Monday. Mr Hamilton declined to officially confirm if OZ had also been closely looking at the Cowal mine, as has been heavily speculated. “We don’t comment on speculation about sale processes,” Mr Hamilton said.

Mr Cole also declined to comment on the likely acquisition targets for OZ, but said the company had four potential acquisitions that it was putting through its due diligence process. Mr Cole said it was a very systematic process, where the best prospect was at the top of the list and if another came onto the radar then the bottom one of the four potentials was put on the back burner.

Mr Cole also said that while the company had already earmarked $44 million in cost savings to come out through its restructuring there was still more savings that would be pursued. “We have a long pipeline,” he said.

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