Barrick, Newmont race to plead merger cases to investors

Executives at Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining are racing to sway a core group of top investors with stock in both companies to support their own mega-merger over that of their rival.

Canadian giant Barrick wants Newmont shareholders including BlackRock, VanEck, and Flossbach von Storch to back its no-premium hostile bid for the Colorado-based miner. That could force Newmont to walk away from its $10-billion agreement to buy Goldcorp.