AngloGold Ashanti to Acquire Centamin For $2.5bn

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU) has agreed to acquire Centamin (LON: CEY) in a deal valued at approximately $2.5 billion, the companies announced on Tuesday.

The acquisition will see AngloGold Ashanti acquire Centamin's flagship asset, the Sukari gold mine in Egypt.

Under the terms of the deal, Centamin shareholders will receive 0.06983 new AngloGold Ashanti shares and $0.125 in cash for each Centamin share they hold, with the deal said to value each Centamin share at 163p. In addition, eligible Centamin Shareholders will be entitled to receive and retain the interim dividend of US$0.0225 per Centamin share.

The transaction represents a premium of approximately 36.7% to Centamin's closing price on September 9, 2024.

The acquisition is expected to be accretive to AngloGold Ashanti's free cash flow per share in the first full year post-completion and accretive to its NAV per share.

Following completion, AngloGold Ashanti Shareholders will own approximately 83.6%, and Centamin Shareholders will own about 16.4% of AngloGold Ashanti's enlarged issued share capital.

The company believes that it will be a well-suited operator of Centamin's portfolio given its significant breadth of experience and long track record in Africa operating similar large-scale open pit and underground mines.

Jochen Tilk, the Chair of AngloGold Ashanti, said: “Today's Transaction is highly compelling and builds on the strong foundation we have built. It adds to our portfolio the pre-eminent gold producer in Egypt, and offers enormous geological potential that we are very well placed to develop.”

James Rutherford, the Chair of Centamin, said the deal is “an endorsement of Centamin's achievement in re-establishing Sukari as a world-class operation.”

The transaction is expected to be completed in Q4 2024, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions.

Centamin also released a trading update on Tuesday, saying it sees full-year 2024 gold production between 470,000 and 500,000 oz per annum.