TORONTO – The fate of a $10-billion mega-merger rests with Newmont Mining investors after Goldcorp shareholders overwhelmingly approved what could be the largest deal in gold mining history.
Greater than 97% of Goldcorp shareholders voted for the merger at a special meeting in Vancouver, the miner said Thursday in a statement. The deal would see Colorado-based Newmont pay 0.3280 of its shares for each Goldcorp share, plus two cents. The Goldcorp ballot required at least two-thirds of shareholders who voted to approve the deal.
The result was expected partly because two shareholder advisory groups, Glass, Lewis & Co and Institutional Shareholder Services, had recommended investors vote in favor of the deal.
Newmont shareholders are scheduled to vote on the deal April 11. The promise of an 88c special dividend, if the deal proceeds, has already won over some of its largest investors. Newmont has said the merger with Goldcorp will create more than $4.4-billion in value and give the company sustainable annual production of six-million to seven-million ounces.
Goldcorp pared losses and rose 0.3% to C$15.37 at 12:43 p.m. in Toronto, while Newmont increased 0.1% in New York.
If the transaction goes through, the combined company will control mines in the Americas, Australia and Ghana. The tie-up would dwarf Barrick Gold’s recent $5.4-billion acquisition of Randgold Resources, and may exceed Barrick’s 2006 purchase of Placer Dome as the gold-industry’s biggest takeover, which had a final value of about $9.6-billion.