By Jason Scott, Bloomberg.
Gold Fields sold a stake in fellow miner Northern Star Resources for A$1.1 billion ($725 million), according to people familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified to discuss private information.
The company offered about 49.3 million securities in Northern Star at A$21.85 to A$22.30 each, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News on Thursday. That reflected a discount of about 1.6% to 3.6% to its last closing price of A$22.66.
On Friday, a block trade of 47.6 million Northern Star shares, equivalent to 3.3% of the firm’s float, traded at 9:38 a.m. Sydney time at A$22.05 apiece. Northern Star’s stock fell as much as 0.8%.
The trade comes after the Johannesburg-listed miner agreed in May to buy Gold Road Resources in a deal valuing its Australian joint venture partner at about $2.4 billion. Bullion’s record-breaking rally over the past three years — with prices hitting a fresh record this week — has renewed interest in deal-making across the sector after years of overspending and operational setbacks curbed appetite for assets.
Gold Fields and Northern Star didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.