SG:Citic Group Agrees to Buy Gold One for South Africa Assets
(Updates to add Gold One comment in third paragraph.)
May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Citic Group, China's biggest state- owned investment company, and partners agreed to buy Gold One International Ltd. for about A$444 million ($469 million), gaining gold assets in South Africa.
The group is offering 55 cents a share for each of Gold One's, 28 percent more than its May 12 closing price, the Sydney-based company said today in a statement. China Development Bank Corp. and Long March Capital Group are the other members of the bidding group, which is seeking as much as a 75 percent stake and plans to keep the company trading in Australia and South Africa, with a potential listing in Hong Kong. Gold One climbed as much as 21 percent in Sydney trading.
The deal "gives us a great partner and ready access to their capital to grow," Mark Wheatley, chairman of Gold One said in a phone interview. "Staying listed will make it also easier to raise future capital."
Gold One operates the Modder East mine in South Africa and also has projects in Mozambique and Namibia. Gold reached a record this month, boosting takeovers in the industry with $10.6 billion worth this quarter, the most since the third quarter last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Gold One, whose board recommended the offer, traded 18 percent higher at 50.5 cents at 12:40 p.m. in Sydney.
The company said in March it was in talks over deals including a change in control. The company agreed in April to buy Rand Uranium Ltd., a South African gold producer with uranium assets, for $250 million.
Citic is bidding through its Baiyin Non-Ferrous Group Co. unit and China Development Bank through its China-Africa Development Fund. The group already has agreed to buy a 17.7 percent stake in Gold One, which is being advised by Macquarie Capital Advisers Ltd. and Hartleys Ltd.
