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Gold bars are stacked in the safe deposit boxes room of the Pro Aurum gold house in Munich. On Monday, shares in Acacia Mining jumped after the gold miner confirmed it is in early talks with Canada’s Endeavour about a possible merger.MICHAEL DALDER/Reuters

Acacia Mining PLC jumped to the highest in almost two months after the gold miner confirmed it is in early-stage talks with rival Africa-focused producer Endeavour Mining Corp. about a possible merger of the two companies which have a combined value of about $4-billion (U.S.).

Acacia, which mines the precious metal in Tanzania, rose 4 per cent to close at 435 pence in London, the highest since Nov. 21, after earlier rising as much as 7.7 per cent.

After the close of trading in London on Friday, Acacia said it was in "discussions regarding a possible combination" with Endeavour. Bloomberg News earlier reported that day the companies were exploring a merger, citing people familiar with the talks. Toronto-listed Endeavour confirmed on Friday it had held discussions with Acacia that "may or may not result in agreement of a transaction."

"On the face of it, this appears a sensible African-focused fit, with Endeavour's longer-term growth adding appeal to Acacia's flat profile," analysts from Investec PLC wrote in a note on Monday. "The companies are ungeared and a merged company would be of a similar production scale to Randgold."

Randgold Resources Ltd. is the largest gold producer listed in London, with a market value of about $7.7-billion.

A merger would allow Barrick Gold Corp. to reduce its 64-per-cent stake in Acacia, people familiar with the discussions said last week.

The deal could enable Barrick to lower its stake in Acacia to about 30 per cent, one of the people said. Barrick would be likely to approve a deal, Investec said.

The transaction could be structured as a reverse takeover, with Acacia buying Endeavour and the combined company keeping its listing in London, the person said.

The plans are not concrete and the structure may change, the person added.

Combined, the companies would be among the top five African gold miners by market value and ounces produced, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Acacia, which produces gold from mines in Tanzania, has been looking to expand into new areas in Africa, with chief executive officer Brad Gordon naming West Africa as one of the most attractive regions.

The company was initially spun off from Barrick to support growth in Africa. Endeavour has operations in Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Ivory Coast.

"Whilst at this point there is no indication of terms or price, we believe that a combination would make sense from Acacia's perspective as it would increase the group's footprint into West Africa," Numis Securities Ltd. said in a note to investors.

Gold producers are benefiting from a rebound in the price of the metal, which has helped push Acacia's shares up about 160 per cent in the last 12 months.

Endeavour, which counts billionaire Naguib Sawiris as its largest shareholder, has gained about 215 per cent in that period, valuing the Toronto-listed company at about $1.6-billion.

The combined entity could challenge Randgold's position as the sole gold miner in Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 Index, Mike Stoner a London-based analyst at Peel Hunt, said in an interview. Endeavour recently relocated its headquarters to the British capital.

The combined group could produce more than 1.4 million ounces a year in the short term and as much as 1.8 million ounces by 2019, he said. Randgold produces about 1.2 million ounces annually.

"There's a capital flow to gold in London that has a total lack of any other large-cap options," he said.

If the merged entity was listed in London, "that could attract some of the capital away from Randgold."

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
ABX-T
Barrick Gold Corp
+2.46%22.53
BX-N
Blackstone Inc
+0.37%131.37
EDV-T
Endeavour Mining Corp
+0.22%27.52
X-N
United States Steel Corp
-0.59%40.78
X-T
TMX Group Ltd
-1.98%35.73

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