RE: 163p11 Sep 2024 14:54
Centamin set to leave London stock market after takeover
The mining company has recommended a $2.5bn deal from the New York-listed AngloGold Ashanti
Centamin is set to become the latest mining company to leave the London stock market after it agreed to a takeover from an American rival.
It has recommended a $2.5 billion cash-and-shares deal from AngloGold Ashanti as the New York-listed group seeks control of Egypt’s largest goldmine.
AngloGold, which also has a listing in Johannesburg, made an offer valuing the FTSE 250 group’s shares at 163p each, representing a 36.7 per cent premium to the closing share price on Monday. Shareholders in Centamin will receive 0.06983 new AngloGold shares for each Centamin share and an additional $0.125 in cash. Centamin’s shares closed up by 27½p, or 22.9 per cent, at 147p, valuing the company at £1.7 billion. AngloGold’s shares were $1.77, or 6.1 per cent, lower at $27.03 in afternoon trading in New York.
Centamin’s key asset is its Sukari goldmine in Egypt’s Eastern Desert, although it also had projects in the Ivory Coast. Sukari has produced more than 5.9 million ounces of gold since it began production in 2009 and James Rutherford, 65, the chairman of Centamin, said the deal was “an endorsement of Centamin’s achievement in re-establishing Sukari as a world-class operation”.
Centamin is set to become the latest mining company to leave the London stock market after it agreed to a takeover from an American rival.
It has recommended a $2.5 billion cash-and-shares deal from AngloGold Ashanti as the New York-listed group seeks control of Egypt’s largest goldmine.
AngloGold, which also has a listing in Johannesburg, made an offer valuing the FTSE 250 group’s shares at 163p each, representing a 36.7 per cent premium to the closing share price on Monday. Shareholders in Centamin will receive 0.06983 new AngloGold shares for each Centamin share and an additional $0.125 in cash. Centamin’s shares closed up by 27½p, or 22.9 per cent, at 147p, valuing the company at £1.7 billion. AngloGold’s shares were $1.77, or 6.1 per cent, lower at $27.03 in afternoon trading in New York.
Centamin’s key asset is its Sukari goldmine in Egypt’s Eastern Desert, although it also had projects in the Ivory Coast. Sukari has produced more than 5.9 million ounces of gold since it began production in 2009 and James Rutherford, 65, the chairman of Centamin, said the deal was “an endorsement of Centamin’s achievement in re-establishing Sukari as a world-class operation”.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley said that AngloGold’s shareholders may be surprised at the timing of the announcement as the company had struck a deal at a “an elevated point in the gold cycle”. They noted that the announcement did not outline any figures for possible cost savings of the combined group. Nevertheless, they said the valuation of Centamin was “fair for the current environment”.
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