The cost to create the world’s largest gold company: A 17% premium for a $10-billion all-shares acquisition that faces some big-time challenges down the line.
Newmont Mining’s deal for Goldcorp stands in stark contrast to the recent zero-premium merger between Barrick Gold 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.