Normandy - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[Basic]

Hallo zusammen
Der Grund für steigende Kurse in Australien:

Black Blade (07/10/00; 02:31:21MT - usagold.com msg#: 33319)
More PM producer consolidation in the wings
Source: theminingweb.com
Australia`s Normandy gains on takeover bid speculation



Normandy Mining`s share price has shot to a five-month high as investors bet that the number one Australian gold miner could soon be the subject of a takeover bid.

The group`s shares hit $A1.05 on heavy volumes last week to continue the recovery from the low of $A0.82 cents seen earlier in the year. A number of factors are at play but the stand-out issue is the takeover talk surrounding the stock. Investors have taken up positions in the expectation that Normandy would soon get caught up in the gold industry`s global rationalisation.

AngloGold and the merging Gold Fields/Franco Nevada are the market`s favourites to move on Normandy, currently valued at $A1.8 billion. Homestake also has its supporters.

Both AngloGold and Gold Fields have made clear that the Australian gold industry is a focus of their future growth plans. Normandy would be a worthwhile catch. Annual production is now running at about two million ounces and profits are strong. A good part of the strong profitability - between $A110 million and $A130 million is the consensus for the June year - is a result of the group`s extensive hedging operations.

The extent of that hedging would be an issue for the likes of AngloGold and Gold Fields and could be expected to be wound back on either group seizing control of Normandy. The starting point in any bid for Normandy will be the fate of the 11 per cent stake held by Julian Robertson`s Tiger hedge fund.

The fund is in the process of being closed, with the Normandy interest comprising one of the last strategic holdings to be sold off. Recent sales of similar strategic stakes by Tiger in United Asset Management Corporation and US Airways has triggered takeover bids for both groups.

Whether that happens in the case of Normandy remains to be seen. What is known is that Normandy itself has made itself more attractive for a takeover by tidying its corporate structure.

It recently moved to full ownership of gold mining assets in the Yandal region of Western Australia and is in the process of selling its magnesium metal and industrial minerals interests. The magnesium metal sale is by way of a free distribution to shareholders of shares in Queensland Metals Corporation (QMC). Based on QMC`s current share price, the distribution is worth about $A0.10 cents a Normandy share.

An announcement on the sale of the $A150 million industrial minerals business is also expected soon. Despite the simplification of the corporate structure, analyst`s opinion on the value of Normandy continues to vary from as low as $A0.60 cents to more than $A1.35 a share.
By: Barry FitzGerald

Black Blade: Normandy is extremely hedged, and that could be a real problem. Somehow, I don`t see Goldfields being all that interested. Maybe Anglogold since they are heavily hedged (~48%) wouldn`t mind since they are unlikely to be able to significantly unwind their massive hedges anyway. As it is, in light of the hedging fiascos of Ashanti and Cambior, and if the POG should rise sharply, the Normandy could be as unwelcome as a turd in a swimming pool.

Ob die negativen Ansichten von Black Blade berechtigt sind weiss ich nicht. Die Übernahmen von gehedgten Unternehmen durch grösser ungehedgte dürfte aber positiv für Gold sein.
Gruß Basic

[Basic]

Speculation mounts that Anglo has eye on Normandy

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CAPE TOWN Speculation grew yesterday that Anglo American was poised to make an acquisition in Australia, but the UK-based mining and natural resources group remained tight-lipped.

Anglo has sold off industrial assets worth $330m this year in a drive to focus on its core businesses, and is on record as being interested in Australian mineral and precious metals assets.

Analysts said the weakness of the Australian dollar against the US currency, combined with a depressed equity market, made listed Australian companies "easy pickings" for foreign groups. "The whole sector is prone to takeover. I`m a bit surprised we haven`t seen more," said UBS Warburg`s Sydney gold analyst, Shaun Giocomo.

AngloGold, Anglo`s 54%-owned gold mining subsidiary, bought Australia`s Acacia Resources in October, while Rio Tinto recently made a hostile bid for Australian iron ore mine North.

Analysts differ on which company is most vulnerable to an Anglo advance. Normandy Mining crops up most in research reports. Others seen as possible targets are Newcrest Mining, Delta Gold and Lihir Gold of Papua New Guinea.

HSBC Investment Bank said in a daily research summary that the Newcrest share offers the best current value to AngloGold, which is likely to favour a scrip transaction over a cash bid.

However, Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Michael Slifirski said AngloGold`s rumoured offer of $1,30 a share for Normandy "would have a good chance of success", although he doubted a hostile bid would be made.

"The acquisition of Normandy following Acacia would give AngloGold a dominant strategic position in almost all of the major productive gold belts in Australia. One transaction delivers control of Australian gold.

"The current almost total lack of Australian institutional interest in, or ownership of, Normandy makes it a low-risk target. Acquisition of Normandy could provide 2-million ounces of annual attributable production and a free option on up to an additional 1-million ounces a year of future production, through development and consolidation opportunities."

Slifirski said that while Normandy`s industrial minerals, magnesium and base metals interests might discourage other potential predators, such as Homestake of the US, the packaging of these assets with gold mining made a joint Anglo-AngloGold bid all the more likely. "The asset group is inexpensive and, almost without exception, entirely complementary to the Anglo group assets and strategy," he said.

Normandy Mining shares fell 2% to A0,98 in Australia yesterday after soaring more than 20% in recent weeks on speculation of an imminent takeover. AngloGold rose 60c to R266 in SA, while Anglo added 520c or 1,5% to R345,20.

Anglo American declined to comment yesterday.

AngloGold buys into Morila: Page18


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