Yamana Gold Inc.’s $4.8-billion takeover will be the catalyst for “much needed” consolidation in the gold industry this year, says founder Peter Marrone.
“I’m a bit jaded, because I’ve been talking about the need for consolidation for 19 years,” the executive chairman said in a Jan. 20 interview at Yamana’s Toronto headquarters. “But I do think we’ll finally begin to see some of it happening soon. I hear lots of chatter out there about other pending transactions.”
Yamana’s pending takeover by Pan American Silver Corp. and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. will see Marrone move on from a company he started two decades ago to try his hand at private equity. The Yamana acquisition, if approved by shareholders on Jan. 31, would be the biggest gold deal since last February.
Marrone has advocated for consolidation in an industry that has wrestled with underinvestment and depleting reserves.