Evidently satisfied with taking a minority position in NovaGold Resources (NG-T, NG-X), Barrick Gold (ABX-T, ABX-N) has announced it will let its offer to take over the company expire on Dec. 6.
At the same time the major made its US$16-per-share ($18.18 in Canadian funds at present rates) offer unconditional, saying it would pick up all shares tendered to the bid. It plans to pay out by Dec. 8.
The most recent count of tendered shares gave Barrick 14% of the Vancouver-based junior, about 12.8 million shares. They would have a price tag of just over US$200 million. NovaGold has 91.5 million shares outstanding and a market capitalization, at presstime, around $1.7 billion (US$1.5 billion).
NovaGold management, which consistently opposed the Barrick bid, announced in a release to the market that it was pleased the “inadequate” bid would not be extended and encouraged shareholders to withdraw tenders.
NovaGold closed at $18.29 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, up 7 on the day.
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