Following weeks of silence, Newcrest Mining and Newmont Corporation plan to meet to discuss the path for a potential multi-billion-dollar takeover.
The two companies recently signed non-disclosure and standstill agreements, laying the foundations for the first in-person meeting since Newcrest’s rejection of the $24.45 billion bid.
The meeting will give Newcrest a chance to explain its reasons for turning down the initial offer, and will likely indicate what level of offer the board would consider worthy of its consideration.
In an interview on Bloomberg Television last month, Newcrest interim chief executive officer Sherry Duhe said the company was “worth a lot more” than the opening bid of $24.45 billion.
However, it is believed Newmont would likely counter by highlighting its position as the world’s largest gold company, from which Newcrest’s investors would directly benefit.
Newcrest’s share price closed at $24.02 on Monday, representing a 40 per cent increase from six months prior.
Regarding a possible deal, Duhe has previously said Newcrest was open to “seeing how things go” regarding conversations with the US-based Newmont.
“What is important for people to know is that Newcrest is a fantastic company with a world-class level portfolio of both gold and copper assets and we have a great funnel of growth and a strong balance sheet to fund that,” she said.
“Our focus as management remains on that and we’ll have to see where these conversations go.”
While Duhe did not put a specific dollar amount on what Newcrest would see as a better offer when speaking with Bloomberg last month, she was clear the board’s rejection of the Newmont bid was firm and unanimous.
“(The rejection of the bid) gives you an indication that we see a lot more value in the portfolio than that script ratio would imply,” she said. “We’re very focused on business as usual.
“It doesn’t surprise me that Newmont is interested in a business like us.”