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Yamana Backs Agnico-Pan American Offer Over Gold Fields Bid

Yamana Gold Inc. said it has entered an agreement with Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Pan American Silver Corp. after determining their takeover offer was superior to an earlier bid by Gold Fields Ltd.
Bloomberg
By Bloomberg
8 Nov
In Planet's Fastest-Warming Region, Jobs Come With Thaw An Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. hauling truck full of minerals drives outside Amaruq, Nunavut, Canada, on Tuesday, July 30, 2019. Mining is the largest private sector employer in Canada's Arctic, generating up to a quarter of gross domestic product across the three northern territories and accounting for one in six jobs. Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg

The company’s board “now unanimously recommends that Yamana shareholders vote against the Gold Fields transaction,” when they meet to vote on the deal on Nov. 21, Yamana said Tuesday in a statement. The company entered the arrangement agreement following the waiver by Gold Fields of its five business day matching right, Yamana said.

Gold Fields said Monday that it won’t raise its offer for Yamana after the two Canadian rivals teamed up for an unsolicited $4.8 billion bid to break up an earlier merger agreement with the South African miner. Yamana previously said the cash-and-stock proposal announced Friday by Agnico Eagle and Pan American was “superior” to the Gold Fields agreement reached back in May. The latest deal is valued at $5.02 a share, based on Thursday’s closing prices.

Read: Yamana Takeover Battle Brews as Rivals Make $4.8 Billion Bid

Gold Fields said its investment committee will be convened and the company will provide a further update to shareholders on its transaction following that meeting, according to a Tuesday statement.

US-listed shares of Yamana was little changed at $4.87 as of 9:35 a.m. in New York, while Agnico Eagle and Pan American both fell 0.8%. Gold Fields shares lost earlier gains in Johannesburg, falling 0.6%.

The battle to acquire Toronto-based Yamana in the biggest gold deal of the year underscores the pressure to boost output as costs spiral and new deposits becomes more difficult to find. Should their agreement be terminated, Yamana would have to pay a $300 million break fee to Gold Fields.

Under the rival proposal, Pan American would acquire Yamana, while Agnico Eagle would buy Yamana’s Canadian assets.

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