Lihir Gold Limited (ASX: LGL), a gold company with operations in Papua New Guinea, Australia and West Africa, has accepted the takeover bid offered by Newcrest Mining as shareholders have voted unanimously in favour of the bid.
The new company which emerges from the deal will become the worlds fifth-largest gold producer, with a combined production of 2,8 million ounces of gold in 2009.
The Australian gold mining company Newcrest had made the offer first in April this year, however it had to make changes to the terms and conditions before the deal was considered acceptable to Lihir Gold’s share holders. The share holder vote saw 99.86 % votes cast in favour of the deal.
Newmont and Barrick had shown an interest in Lihir Gold earlier but they were unable to trump the offer finally made by Newcrest.
The chairman of Lihir Gold Ross Garnaut said before the vote that while they had serious interest from alternative buyers who had visited the operations and were provided with extensive information related to the company none had made a formal alternative offer.