Newmont lifts Normandy bid by 15%


Normandy chief Robert de Crespigny said Monday his board recommended shareholders accept the Newmont offer

By CNN's Geoff Hiscock, Asia business editor

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- U.S.-based Newmont Mining Corp. lifted its offer for Australian gold producer Normandy Mining to Aust $1.90 a share Monday, topping rival AngloGold's latest bid by 15 percent.

Newmont called its latest stock and cash bid "clearly superior" to the revised offer South Africa's AngloGold made on November 29, when it lifted its bid by 16 percent to A$1.65 a share.

Normandy shares, which last traded at A$1.69 Friday, jumped quickly to A$1.76 Monday morning on news of the higher bid. That is a three-year high.

The latest Newmont offer values Normandy, which is Australia's biggest gold producer, at $2.2 billion.

The two bidders have now both made revised offers since AngloGold unveiled its original offer on September 5, which valued Normandy at A$1.42 a share.

Board to recommend acceptance

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Newmont appears to have the upper hand in the takeover battle, given that the Normandy board on Monday agreed to recommend that shareholders accept Newmont's latest bid.

The board clearly expected a higher offer would emerge. Last Monday it told shareholders to "do nothing" in response to the AngloGold bid and await "further developments".

But AngloGold has already won regulatory approval from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board and has promised accelerated payment to Normandy shareholders who accept its offer.

In a statement released Monday, Denver-based Newmont chief executive Wayne Murdy called the new offer "clearly superior" to AngloGold's November 29 offer and said Newmont was committed to completing the deal by early in the new year.

The new terms are Aust 40 cents cash for each Normandy share, plus 0.0385 common shares of Newmont.

Part of a package with Franco Nevada

Normandy's board, headed by executive chairman Robert de Crespigny, had rejected AngloGold's original September 5 offer and initially recommended instead that shareholders accept Newmont's November 14 bid of about $1.98 billion.

That bid was part of a package in which Newmont said it would buy Normandy and Toronto-based Franco Nevada Mining Corp for a total of $4.41 billion in stock and cash.

Franco Nevada is the largest shareholder in Normandy, with a 19.9 percent stake.

After Newmont announced its original offer, the price differential moved in AngloGold's favor, to the point where Newmont was forced to respond with a higher bid.

AngloGold, which is 53.4 percent owned by the giant resources group Anglo American, is the world's largest gold producer.

Denver-based Newmont is the world's No. 2 producer, and has extensive operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and five other countries.

Normandy, based in Adelaide, produced more than 2.3 million ounces of gold in the year to June 2001.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange Monday, de Crespigny said the Normandy board was pleased at the higher offer from Newmont.

"Newmont's revised offer better recognizes the intrinsic and strategic value inherent within the company," de Crespigny said.