Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold is on the verge of wrapping up its $1.2bn (£951m) takeover of Africa-focused gold miner Acacia Mining after securing approval from a top UK court.
The approval, which was granted by the High Court of Justice in England and Wales, is the final hurdle towards completion of the deal. Under the terms of the deal, Barrick Gold will acquire the remaining 36.1% stake it previously didn’t own in Acacia.
The UK court has sanctioned the scheme of arrangement entered into by the parties under section 899 of the Companies Act 2006.
Following the court approval, Acacia’s shares on the London Stock Exchange will be delisted.
The scheme of agreement was signed in July 2019, under which the UK-based Acacia Mining agreed to a sweetened offer from Barrick Gold.
As per the revised offer, Barrick Gold will exchange 0.168 of its shares for each of Acacia’s shares. The offer values each of Acacia’s shares at 232p.
The original offer from the Canadian gold miner was 0.153 shares for one Acacia share.
The Africa-focused gold miner had been facing trouble in Tanzania where it had been ordered to settle a massive tax bill of $190bn ($152.54bn) in July 2017. The Tanzanian government demanded the tax amount after its committees found out that the gold mining company was operating illegally apart from understating its gold exports, as per a BBC report.
Barrick Gold working with Tanzanian government to resolve Acacia tax dispute
Earlier this year, Barrick Gold said that it had advanced discussions with the Tanzanian government regarding the Acacia tax dispute settlement. The parties concerned are said to have arrived at a proposal that defines the commercial terms to resolve outstanding disputes pertaining to Acacia’s operations in the country.
Acacia has been operating the producing Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi and North Mara gold mines in northwest Tanzania. The company was originally founded as a division of Barrick Gold when the latter started mining activities in Tanzania in 2000. In 2014, the Barrick Gold’s unit was renamed as Acacia Mining from African Barrick Gold.
Apart from Tanzania, Acacia has exploration assets across Kenya, Burkina Faso and Mali.
