Goldcorp’s Ian Telfer gives up director seat at Newmont amid outcry over retirement payment – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 15, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Goldcorp Inc. says its long-time chairman will not be joining the board of Newmont Mining Corp. after an outcry over a huge bump in his retirement benefits.

Last week, Goldcorp’s board approved a near-tripling of Ian Telfer’s retirement benefit to US$12-million from US$4.5-million. The cash is payable to Mr. Telfer should Newmont succeed in its plans to buy the Vancouver-based miner. In explanation for the increase, Goldcorp has said Mr. Telfer’s compensation has not historically been adjusted for inflation.

The arrangement was met with scorn by some stakeholders, especially considering Mr. Telfer agreed to sell Goldcorp near a historic low in its stock price.

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David Garofalo to leave Goldcorp after company merger, Newmont CEO says – by David Milstead (Globe and Mail – January 31, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Goldcorp Inc. chief executive David Garofalo will leave once the company completes its merger with Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corp., says the man who engineered the deal.

Mr. Garofalo’s fate had been a question mark ever since Newmont and Vancouver-based Goldcorp announced their US$10-billion union on Jan. 14. But in an interview with The Globe and Mail, Newmont CEO Gary Goldberg confirmed there is no role planned for the Goldcorp boss once the merger, which will create the world’s largest gold miner, is done.

“David will not continue with us,” said Mr. Goldberg, who will run the new company, to be called Newmont Goldcorp. “He’s been supportive, and the whole [Goldcorp] team has been really great to work with as we work through this process.”

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Can the no-premium Barrick-Randgold deal spark an M&A gold rush? – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – January 29, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

More Australian gold companies may be active in the M&A space this year, perhaps looking at Canadian companies

After Ian Telfer, chairman of Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc., brokered a $10-billion sale of his company earlier this month to Newmont Mining Inc., he characterized it as one of the first in a series of deals coming to the gold sector.

“It was our sense that the industry was going to consolidate,” said Telfer. “It’s becoming a big company game for people who want exposure to gold.”

His remarks echo those made by a chorus of analysts, bankers and mining executives, who for months have been predicting a wave of mergers and acquisitions is about to hit the gold sector, where too many companies are chasing too few investors.

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CEO: Newmont Likes Goldcorp’s Exploration-Pipeline Potential – by Allen Sykora (Kitco News – January 23, 2019)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) is encouraged by the exploration potential of some of the properties that it will acquire from Goldcorp Inc. (TSX: G, NYSE: GG), assuming that a planned merger goes through, says Gary Goldberg, Newmont’s chief executive officer.

The CEO spoke with Kitco News Wednesday about the mega-merger that was announced on Jan. 14. The mostly all-stock transaction valued Goldcorp shares at $10 billion and would create the largest gold-mining company in the world, to be named Newmont Goldcorp.

Goldberg and other top Newmont officials are on an extensive road trip, discussing the merger with investors and others. Company officials have been trying to share what assets they like and which they think might need more work, the CEO said.

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[Newmont/Goldcorp] These assets could be up for grabs after mega gold mining merger – by Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani (Bloomberg News/Business Network News – January 18, 2019)

 

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Recent M&A activity in the mining sector like Newmont Mining Corp.’s move this week to buy Goldcorp Inc. to form the world’s largest gold miner, and rival Barrick Gold Corp.’s acquisition of Randgold Resources Ltd., have shaken up the lacklustre industry.

As part of the deals, the mining giants have said they will be selling assets — sparking speculation on which mines could be up for grabs, and who would be interested in buying them.

Newmont and Goldcorp. said on Monday the merged company will sell up to US$1.5 billion in assets over the next two years, while Barrick has pledged to focus on cash-generating assets.

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Is Newmont Goldcorp good for North? – by Shane Lasley (Mining News – North of 60 – January 18, 2019)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

he proposed combination of Newmont Mining Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. has raised questions about the future of the companies’ gold assets in the Yukon and investments in other junior mining companies across Canada’s North.

Two of the gold projects in the proposed Newmont Goldcorp pipeline are found in the Yukon – Plateau, a large property being explored by Newmont, and Coffee, a project that is nearing the mine development stage.

Knowing that the combined gold miner plans to shed some of its assets, it is currently unclear whether these projects will fit into the larger company’s pipeline or be put up for sale as part of the effort to slim down.

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Dinner and a golden proposal: How Goldcorp and Newmont came together – by Niall McGee and Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – January 18, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

When Goldcorp Inc. executives sat down with their counterparts at Newmont Mining Corp. at an upscale restaurant in downtown Vancouver, it was supposed to be a casual get-together. The mid-December dinner had been on their schedules for some time, and was planned simply to build the rapport between the two senior gold mining companies.

Instead, in one of the restaurant’s private dining rooms, Newmont chair Noreen Doyle and chief executive Gary Goldberg told Goldcorp attendees it wanted to acquire the company. The reaction from Goldcorp chair Ian Telfer and CEO David Garofalo was shock.

While Vancouver’s Goldcorp had been exploring the idea of working with Denver-based Newmont for a few years, the idea of a takeover had never come up. However, with Goldcorp’s share price severely beaten down after many strategic blunders, it was vulnerable. In fact, Goldcorp had recently been talking with Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd. about a possible takeover of Goldcorp.

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Foreigners are taking control of Barrick and Goldcorp – but the miners made this mess – by Tim Kiladze (Globe and Mail – January 18, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

David Garofalo seemed to have everything going for him. A polished executive with a strong résumé in mining, he was hired to run Goldcorp Inc. in 2015, giving him control of what looked like a darling in a moribund sector.

Unlike many of its peers, Goldcorp came out of the commodity crash with a favourable view from investors. It had avoided mega-acquisitions. The balance sheet looked good.

Three years later, Mr. Garofalo has lost the confidence of shareholders. Goldcorp’s stock fell by more than half, hit by falling production and rising costs, prompting U.S. gold giant Newmont Mining Corp. to step forward this week with a deal to buy the company for US$10-billion. It’s not certain if Mr. Garofalo will have a job at the merged company. What is clear is that another big Canadian-based mining company is falling into foreign hands.

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Mystery solved: Why Newmont is offering a mere 2 cents in cash as part of its bid for Goldcorp – by David Milstead (Globe and Mail – January 17 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It is the mystery of the two cents. When Newmont Mining Corp. said on Monday it will buy Goldcorp Inc. for about $10-billion, swapping its stock for Goldcorp’s, it said it would add 2 US cents per share in cash to the transaction. The tiny little sweetener will cost Newmont just US$17-million.

Why even bother? Robert Willens, a long-time U.S. securities analyst who specializes in matters of taxation, seems to have the answer. Newmont is creating a sizable but little-understood tax benefit for Goldcorp Inc.’s U.S. shareholders that effectively makes its offer more valuable than it appears.

The companies have not addressed the matter. Newmont declined to comment for this story and Goldcorp did not respond to a request. But Mr. Willens told his clients on Tuesday that the structure of the deal makes it taxable for Goldcorp’s U.S. and Canadian shareholders. Usually, companies do everything to avoid that.

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Eyes on Newcrest as gold dealmaking heats up – by Nichola Saminather (Reuters U.S. – January 14, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO (Reuters) – Two recent large M&A deals in the gold sector have prompted speculation that Newcrest Mining (NCM.AX), Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO) and B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) may be among the next gold companies to combine with a rival, bankers and analysts said.

On Monday, Newmont Mining (NEM.N) announced a $10 billion takeover of Goldcorp Inc (G.TO), close on the heels of Barrick Gold’s (ABX.TO) purchase of Randgold Resources.

Deal-making had largely been dormant in the gold sector in recent years, as companies focused on cutting costs amid investor criticism of inadequate management of capital. But the need to bolster shrinking gold reserves to boost growth and take advantage of rising gold prices are now providing the impetus for consolidation.

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Newmont CEO defends Goldcorp deal amid speculation rival bidders could emerge – Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – January 16, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

One analyst downgraded Newmont from outperformer to neutral ‘until the company provides additional clarity on its strategic plans’

Gary Goldberg, chief executive of Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corp., started off Tuesday morning feeling upbeat.

One day after announcing his company’s US$10 billion bid for Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc., his company’s stock was trading down, again, falling three per cent at one stage on Tuesday, after falling 8.89 per cent on Monday; and now Goldcorp was also trading down more than three per cent.

Reaction to the deal looked decidedly mixed. One analyst was raising questions about the rationale for the deal and another was suggesting the price was too low and Goldcorp could attract other bidders; and yet Goldberg insisted none of it was surprising or unnerving in the slightest.

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Newmont likely to sell a number of Goldcorp’s Canadian mines – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 16, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Newmont Mining Corp.’s acquisition of Goldcorp Inc. will likely result in the sale of a number of the latter’s Canadian mines as the combined company focuses on its best-performing and lowest-cost operations.

On Monday, the Denver-based gold major announced it had reached a friendly deal to acquire Vancouver-based Goldcorp for US$10-billion in a mostly share transaction that will see Newmont’s mine portfolio jump to 20 properties across four continents.

It was the second major deal in the Canadian gold sector in the past few months, with Toronto’s Barrick Gold Corp. recently closing its US$6-billion acquisition of Randgold Resources Ltd.

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Monster Gold-Mining Deals Pile Pressure on Those Left Behind – by Thomas Biesheuvel and Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – January 15, 2019)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Mark Bristow’s tenure as boss of the world’s biggest gold miner might have been short-lived, but his message for smaller rivals just got even more pointed.

“Holy camoly, I missed out on a great opportunity!” is how Bristow described anyone not involved in Barrick Gold Corp.’s purchase of Randgold Resources Ltd. in September. With Newmont Mining Corp. poised to become the No. 1 producer through a $10 billion takeover of Goldcorp Inc. announced Monday, the pressure on those left behind will be even greater.

The two mega deals promise to transform the industry that many investors have shunned due to floundering bullion prices and poor decision making by producers. The newly combined companies are also expected to put several unloved assets up for sale, leaving lots of room for maneuvering by those that missed out on the dealmaking so far.

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Newmont’s Goldcorp Gamble May Need ‘Drastic Surgery’ to Pay Off – by Danielle Bochove, Caleb Mutua and Marvin G. Perez (Bloomberg News/Yahoo – January 15, 2019)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — The cost to create the world’s largest gold company: A 17 percent premium for a $10 billion all-shares acquisition that faces some big-time challenges down the line.

Newmont Mining Corp.’s deal for Goldcorp Inc. stands in stark contrast to the recent zero-premium merger between Barrick Gold Corp. and Randgold Resources. The key question: Why? In October, Goldcorp shares fell to their lowest since 2002 after the miner reported lower output and higher costs than expected. Since then the stock improved only marginally before today.

The merged company will have the world’s largest production and reserve base, and the kind of liquidity and diversified assets required to attract institutional investors, Stephen D. Walker, an analyst with RBC Capital markets, wrote in a research note.

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Newmont Mining to take over Goldcorp in US$10-billion acquisition deal – by Niall McGee and Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – January 15, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Goldcorp Inc. has agreed to a US$10-billion takeover by Newmont Mining Corp. that sees the Vancouver company, once the world’s most valuable gold miner, acquired by a U.S. competitor at a fraction of its peak value.

The Goldcorp takeover is the second big deal in the past few months involving a large Canadian gold company. On Jan. 1, Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp. closed its US$6-billion acquisition of African operator Randgold Resources Ltd.

Now, Newmont is set to surpass Barrick and grab the crown as the world’s largest gold producer by market capitalization, production and reserves. Newmont and Goldcorp will produce 6 to 7 million ounces of gold a year over the next decade, executives said on Monday. The combined stock market capitalization of the new company would be about $35-billion, compared with Barrick’s $29-billion.

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