The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the latest body to approve Newmont’s $26.2 billion acquisition of Newcrest.
Newmont received clearance from the Korea Fair Trade Commission last week, with the body saying “the transaction does not violate Korea’s Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Law”.
Prior to that, the company received clearance from Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Independent Consumer and Competition Commission in early August, and the Canadian Competition Bureau issued a “no action” letter in July.
Now the ACCC is expected to convey its clearance of Newmont’s acquisition of Newcrest to Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board for consideration.
“Newmont continues advancing other regulatory approvals and expects to close the transaction in the fourth quarter of this year,” Newmont said.
“Other regulatory approvals to be secured for Newmont’s proposed acquisition of Newcrest include the Australia Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), and the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).”
Newmont and Newcrest will also continue to engage with the PNG Government and regulators about other approvals and clearances for the transaction.
The ACCC’s approval is the next step in a months long process that begun in February where Newmont attempted to takeover Newcrest with a $24.45 billion offer. The Newcrest board rejected this offer.
Following weeks of silence, both companies met to discuss a path for a potential multi-billion-dollar takeover.
Newmont then raised its takeover bid for Newcrest to $29.4 billion, which it labelled as being its best and final proposal.
In May, both companies came to a decision with Newmont making a $26.2 billion offer, which the Newcrest board unanimously recommended that shareholders vote in favour of.
Newcrest’s assets includes the Cadia Valley Operations and the Havieron project in Australia, and the Lihir mine in PNG, which is one of the largest gold mines in the world.