European Union antitrust officials cleared the $1,5-billion merger of South Africa’s AngloGold with Ghana’s Ashanti Goldfields on Friday, a deal that will create one of the world’s top gold producers.
The proposed company, which would be named AngloGold Ashanti, would have the world’s largest gold reserve base, a combined 93,2-million ounces in proven and probable reserves.
AngloGold offered 29 of its shares for every 100 Ashanti shares.
Ashanti’s board and shareholder Lonmin PLC, which has a 27,6% stake in Ashanti, has agreed to the deal.
The deal was approved under the EU’s simplified antitrust procedure, after EU officials found that the merger would not violate EU competition rules.
The approval follows a similar green light by Ghana’s government last October. The Ghanaian government has a 17% stake in Ashanti and had the right to veto any takeover bid. Ashanti is based in Accra, Ghana.
British-based Lonmin PLC, which is the largest shareholder in Ashanti with a 27,6% stake, has also given its approval.
AngloGold Ashanti is expected to invest millions of dollars in Ghana’s mines, providing badly needed jobs in the West African nation. The new company would also hold a listing on Ghana’s stock exchange.
AngloGold, already one of the world’s largest gold companies, produces about six million ounces of gold a year from its open pit and underground mines in eight countries across the globe.
The far smaller Ashanti has six producing mines in Ghana, Guinea, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, which together produced 1,62-million ounces of gold last year.
Officials from both companies say AngloGold’s experience in deep mining also would help maximize the output in Ashanti’s Obiasi mine, reducing mining costs there substantially. – Sapa-AP