-->Barrick Agrees to Buy Placer Dome for $10.4 Billion (Update3)
2005-12-22 11:43 (New York)


(Adds investor comment in seventh paragraph, value analysis
in 10th paragraph and Goldcorp comment in 12th paragraph.)

By Doug Alexander
Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Barrick Gold Corp. agreed to buy
rival Placer Dome Inc., creating the world's largest gold
producer, after sweetening its offer to $10.4 billion.
Barrick raised its bid by 9.8 percent to $22.50 a share or
0.8269 of a Barrick share plus 5 cents, Toronto-based Barrick
said today in a statement. As part of the transaction,
Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc. agreed to buy some Placer assets
for $1.485 billion, up 10 percent from the earlier proposal.
The acquisition is the biggest ever in the gold industry
and will vault Barrick ahead of Newmont Mining Corp. as the
world's largest producer with output of as much as 8.4 million
ounces. Mining companies have been acquiring rivals as gold
prices rose to a 24-year high and output in some areas dwindled.
The agreement ``provides Placer Dome shareholders an
attractive premium for their shares and an ongoing stake in a
dynamic and growing company,'' Peter Tomsett, chief executive
officer of Vancouver-based Placer, said in the statement.
The deal would be the second-largest acquisition of a
Canadian company announced this year, following the pending
purchase of mining company Falconbridge Ltd. by rival Inco Ltd.

Increased Offer

Barrick, the world's third-largest gold producer, on Oct.
31 made a hostile bid for Placer that was valued at $9 billion.
That offer was $20.50 a share, or 0.7518 of a Barrick share and
5 cents. Barrick extended its offer to Jan. 19 from the previous
expiration date of Jan. 16.
``I want to keep my exposure to gold so I'm going to take
the Barrick shares for my Placer shares,'' said Peter Schiff,
the chief executive officer of Darien, Connecticut-based
brokerage Euro Pacific Capital, who owns shares of Placer,
Barrick and Goldcorp.
Shares of Placer Dome fell 76 cents, or 2.9 percent, to
C$25.64 at 11:33 a.m. in Toronto Stock Exchange trading. Before
today, the stock was up 35 percent since the Barrick bid.
Barrick fell 75 cents, or 2.4 percent, to C$31, and Goldcorp
rose 59 cents, or 2.5 percent, to C$23.74.

Value Comparison

Barrick is paying less than the average of gold company
purchases, according to two ways of comparing acquisitions.
Barrick is paying 1.5 times Placer's market value plus
debt, or enterprise value, a metric often used to compare
companies. The price is lower than the 2.4 times average
enterprise value of all gold mining company acquisitions of more
than $1 billion since Jan. 1, 2000.
Barrick also is paying 3.7 times book value, or its balance
sheet value, for Placer. That's less than the 5.6 times book-
value average for gold company purchases in the comparison
sample.
Goldcorp agreed to participate in the transaction to gain
Placer's Campbell mine and stakes in the Porcupine mine and the
Musselwhite mine in Ontario. Campbell is near Goldcorp's Red
Lake mine. Goldcorp said it will use cash and existing credit
facilities to finance the purchase.
The deal also includes Placer's 50 percent stake in the La
Coipa mine in Chile and a 40 percent stake in the Peublo Viejo
project in the Dominican Republic.
``We believe that the increased purchase price is justified
as a result of recent increases in gold prices, the exploration
success at Red Lake announced by Placer Dome on Dec. 19 and
additional synergies and tax efficiencies that we expect to
arise from a friendly transaction,'' Goldcorp Chief Executive
Officer Ian Telfer said in the statement.
Exploration drilling showed high-grade metal extends to the
Campbell mine from the Red Lake mine, Placer said Dec. 19.

--With reporting by George Stein in New York. Editor: Stroth

Story illustration: To chart the share price of Placer Dome in
the past year, see {PDG CN <Equity> GP D <GO>}: for a graph of
Barrick Gold, see {ABX CN <Equity> GP D <GO>}. For mining
statistics and metals prices, see {MINE <GO>}. For more
commodity news, see {CTOP <GO>}.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Doug Alexander in Toronto at (1) (416) 203-5733 or
dalexander3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Steve Stroth at (1) (312) 443-5931 or
sstroth@bloomberg.net.

-->Hallo Emerald,


du musste es ja wissen: lohnt es sich steuerlich, eine Aktiengesellschaft im Kanton Zug (CH) zu registrieren? Wahrscheinlich ja, Gründungskosten dürften hingegen, etwas abhängig von den Tarifen der kantonalen Anwaltskammer, überall in CH etwa gleich sein. Kosten für Aktienmäntel (das sind nicht diejenigen, die im Winter warm geben) im Kt. Zug teurer als andernorts?

Danke für eine gelegentliche Antwort!
BGG