Newmont near deal to acquire Newcrest Mining for $20B

Martin Lemus/iStock via Getty Images

Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) is close to a deal to purchase Newcrest Mining Ltd. (OTCPK:NCMGY) for about A$29.4 billion ($19.5 billion).

The parties are in the final stages of talks and may announce a deal on a binding offer as soon as the coming days, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited people familiar. Newcrest (OTCPK:NCMGY) agreed to extend Newmont’s (NEM) due-diligence rights to Thursday after an earlier deadline lapsed.

The latest updated comes after Bloomberg reported that Newcrest Mining’s (OTCPK:NCMGY) board is prepared to recommend a takeover offer from Newmont (NYSE:NEM) to its shareholders, interim CEO Sherry Duhe said earlier this month.

If successful, the deal would create by far the world’s biggest gold miner, with mines in North and South America, Africa, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Newmont first made a non-binding offer to acquire Newcrest , Australia’s top gold miner, in February, in a bid that was valued at ~$17 billion. The bid was rejected by Newcrest’s board and Newmont (NEM) increased its offer last month to $19.5 billion.