TORONTO — Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. say their merger should be completed next week after the gold miners received regulatory approval in Australia.
The Ontario-based companies say approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board is the final step before the deal closes on or about Feb. 8.
Under the deal announced in September, Kirkland Lake Gold shareholders will receive 0.7935 of an Agnico Eagle common share for each Kirkland Lake Gold common share held.
Existing Agnico Eagle shareholders will own 54 per cent of the combined company while Kirkland Lake Gold shareholders will hold 46 per cent.
The new Agnico Eagle will be led by a combined board and management team including seven directors from Agnico Eagle and six from Kirkland Lake Gold. Agnico Eagle CEO Sean Boyd will become executive chair of the board, while Kirkland Lake Gold CEO Tony Makuch will be chief executive of the combined company.
Agnico Eagle has mines are in Canada, Finland and Mexico as well as exploration and development activities in those countries and the United States and Colombia.
Kirkland Lake Gold has the Macassa mine and Detour Lake mine, both in northern Ontario, and the Fosterville mine in Australia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:AEM, TSX:KL)
The Canadian Press