By Sybilla Gross and William Clowes, Bloomberg.
Gold Fields said it’s in talks to acquire Gold Road Resources Ltd, hours after the Australian company’s shares were suspended from trading in Sydney, following media speculation over a deal.
In March, Johannesburg-based Gold Fields announced that Gold Road had rejected a non-binding acquisition proposal. At that time, Gold Road said the takeover approach — valuing the Perth-based miner at A$3.3 billion ($2.1 billion) — was “extremely disappointing” and undervalued the company. Gold Road’s shares have since climbed more than 20%.
Gold Fields, which co-owns the Gruyere mine in Western Australia with Gold Road, said on Friday that it’s “in active discussions” with Gold Road. There was no certainty that a deal would be concluded, it added. Gold Fields’ shares fell as much as 6.4%.
Bullion’s record-breaking rally over the past three years — with prices topping $3,500 an ounce last month — has breathed life into a sector with a history of overspending and operational setbacks. That’s resulted in a flurry of deals, including Equinox Gold Corp’s C$2.6 billion ($1.88 billion) acquisition of Calibre Mining Corp. in Canada, and CMOC Group’s C$2.16 billion purchase of Canada’s Lumina Gold Corp.
Gold Fields, which reported a surge in profit in 2024, produced about half its gold from four Australian assets, while mines in Ghana, South Africa, Chile and Peru accounted for the rest. Last year, it announced a $1.6 billion deal to buy Osisko Mining Inc., giving Gold Fields full control of the Windfall development project in Canada, which is targeting first output in 2028.
Earlier on Friday, Gold Road asked for its shares to be suspended, citing “media speculation regarding a potential change of control transaction.” The suspension will be lifted when the market opens on 6 May, unless the company issues an announcement before then.