Goldcorp’s hostile bid for Osisko – the one time darling of the Canadian exploration and development sector, but now a mid-tier gold miner in its own right – could thus just be the start of a flood of M&A moves as the gold price looks to be nearing its bottom and gold stock valuations are seen as being close to their likely lows.
While there have already been other M&A moves in the space over the past year although mostly at a much lower level – Hecla’s ‘white knight’ acquisition of Aurizon, Centamin’s Ampella transaction and Asanko’s PMI takeover all immediately spring to mind. But none of these have had the impact of the Goldcorp bid given the sizes of the two companies involved.
The Goldcorp $2.6 billion stock and cash offer, worth around $6 per share has been described by Osisko as being opportunistic and hugely undervaluing the company being set at a 15% premium to the Osisko price the day before the bid was announced.
Source: Seeking Alpha
