Yamana Gold Inc.’s Peter Marrone said the sale of the company he founded two decades ago to two Canadian rivals heralds a wave of gold mergers as executives and investors seek to maintain margins amid higher production costs and declining grades of the metal.
Marrone, currently Yamana’s executive chair, oversaw the company’s sale to Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Pan American Silver Corp. last year for about US$4.8 billion. Marrone will leave the company when the deal closes, which is likely to take place next month.