Iamgold Sale Stalls as Chinese Bidders’ Talks Fail – by Vinicy Chan, Harry Brumpton and Scott Deveau (Bloomberg News – October 9, 2019)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The sale of Iamgold Corp. has stalled after the mid-tier Canadian gold miner failed to reach an agreement with several Chinese suitors, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Chinese gold producers including China National Gold Group Corp., Shandong Gold Mining Co. and Zijin Mining Group Co. had all shown interest in Iamgold, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. But discussions stumbled over price as well as concerns related to ongoing Sino-Canada political tensions, the people said.

Though talks have stalled, it’s still possible a suitor may re-enter with a better offer, according to one of the people. The Canadian company could also decide to pursue other options, such as selling a stake in its Cote project, the people said. Representatives for Iamgold, China National Gold, Shandong Gold and Zijin Mining declined to comment.

Shares of Iamgold have risen about 1.5 per cent in the past 12 months, giving it a market value of $2.3 billion (US$1.7 billion).

Gold is near a six-year high, and the amount of gold reserves still buried in mines is down by more than half from a 2011 peak. Miners of the precious metal are seeking to secure sources of the material by snapping up rivals.

For the rest of this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-09/iamgold-sale-is-said-to-stall-as-talks-with-chinese-bidders-fail