The Securities Commission of Papua New Guinea (SCPNG) has granted necessary exemptions and requested confirmations under PNG capital markets law to allow Newmont to proceed with its $26.2 billion acquisition of Newcrest.
The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) also gave its approval of the proposed transaction last week.
The approvals from the SCPNG and PCC means that all of the government regulatory approvals necessary for Newmont to proceed with its transaction have now been secured.
Newmont had previously received clearance from:
- Independent firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis
- Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board
- Japan’s Fair Trade Commission
- the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
- the Korean Fair Trade Commission
- PNG’s Independent Consumer and Competition Commission
- the Canadian Competition Bureau
Newmont president and chief executive officer Tom Palmer reacted to the news.
“We look forward to building strong and mutually beneficial partnerships with the government and people of Papua New Guinea to generate lasting shared value and meaningful economic development through the world-class Lihir gold mine and the highly prospective Wafi-Golpu gold and copper project,” he said.
“As the world’s leading gold company, we recognise PNG’s significant, untapped economic potential and support providing its citizens the opportunity to invest in and benefit from our operations, projects and social contributions.”
To support the acquisition, Newmont announced key leadership changes earlier this week. One of these changes included appointing Alwyn Pretorius as Newmont managing director of PNG, as part of its efforts to establish a dedicated business unit in PNG.
The gold miner is expected to establish a secondary listing of stock depositary interests on Papua New Guinea’s National Stock Exchange (PNGX) when the transaction closes.
With all necessary government regulatory approvals under its belt, Newmont’s acquisition of Newcrest is on track for completion in the fourth quarter of 2023.