Kinross merges with Bema

(www.mineweb.com)

If Toronto’s Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) succeeds in its all-share $3.1 billion merger with fellow Canadian Bema Gold, Kinross will move up in the senior ranks of gold producers.

Each Bema common share would be exchanged for 0.441 of a Kinross common share, representing a 34% premium. After the transaction is completed, 61% of new Kinross would be held by Kinross shareholders and 39% by Bema shareholders. If the transaction fails, Bema (NYSE:BGO) would pay Kinross a $Cdn$79 million break fee.

Analysts were not enthusiastic about the prospect of Kinross taking on Bema’s ownership of the Cerro Casale project in Chile. While Cerro Casale is estimated to contain proven and probable resources of 23 million ounces of gold and 6 billion pounds of copper, analyst Mark Smith of Dundee Securities declared “the project’s awfully expensive,” requiring an initial capex of $2 billion. Both Placer Dome and Barrick have decided against developing the project.