The combined value of mining M&A and capital raising deals increased by 19.1% to $86.8bn in 2019. Major drivers behind the global upswing was a significant increase in capital raised through the private placement of debt and equity, coupled with strong acquisition rates.
Deal values in Canada were the highest globally with $28bn worth of investments; more than double compared with $12bn in 2018. This was mainly due to the Newmont takeover of Goldcorp and the Barrick and Randgold merger, worth a combined $16bn. Meanwhile, mining deals in the US and China declined from $9bn and $14bn to $8bn and $6bn respectively.
Other countries amongst the top five were US, Switzerland, Australia and Chile, where a combined $27.9bn worth of deals were completed during 2019. Globally, private placements of debt and equity and 100% acquisitions collectively accounted for over 52% of the total value of completed deals – significantly higher compared with 28% in 2018.
Katanga Mining raised $5.8bn during the fourth quarter of 2019, which was the third-largest deal globally. The largest announced deal was Kirkland Lake Gold’s plan to acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of Detour Gold Corp. for $3.8bn. On January 28, 2020, Kirkland shareholders had approved the acquisition.
