Canadian miner Centerra Gold to buy Thompson Creek Metals in $1.1B deal
by The Canadian Press
Toronto-based company to take control of assets in B.C. and U.S. as it grapples with criminal probes at its flagship mine in Kyrgyz Republic
TORONTO—Canadian miner Centerra Gold Inc. says it’s agreed to acquire Thompson Creek Metals Co. in a deal worth roughly $1.1 billion.
Centerra said July 5 it will issue 0.0988 of a share for each Thompson Creek share, valuing the company at about $176 million. Including the assumption of Thompson Creek’s significant debt, however, the total value of the transaction climbs to more than a billion dollars.
Thompson Creek’s assets include the Mount Milligan copper-gold mine in British Columbia, as well as molybdenum operations in the West Coast province and in the U.S.
The deal gives Centerra control of assets in two stable jurisdictions as it grapples with criminal probes and demands for millions of dollars at its flagship Kumtor gold mine in the Kyrgyz Republic.
To help pay down the Thompson Creek debt, the company said it would also raise about $170 million in a bought-deal financing with BMO Capital Markets, Credit Suisse Securities Canada and Scotiabank.