CIBC World Markets has valued the Canadian miner Yamana — which South Africa’s Gold Fields aims to acquire in an all-share deal — at between $6.825-billion and $8.025-billion. This independent assessment, outlined in a circular to shareholders, is in line with Gold Fields’ valuation, but it remains to be seen if the deal has enough shareholder support to go through.
“The JSE requested Yamana to commission an independent valuation to provide Gold Fields’ shareholders with an understanding of the value that an independent valuation would provide. The big concern throughout this process was that Yamana was valued at the market cap of the day of $5.2-billion and we offered a 30% premium to that — there was concern that we were overpaying,” Gold Fields’ CEO, Chris Griffith, said during a conference call with journalists.
“Overall, our top shareholders have remained supportive shareholders, and largely, that shareholder base has not changed materially. So I think that is confirmation that our large shareholders have continued to be supportive. Some shareholders have sold a bit down but a number of shareholders have increased their holdings,” he said.