Acacia production bounces after shareholder opposes Barrick takeover
Acacia Mining saw a bounce in production last quarter, the company said this morning, as a takeover battle for the gold firm heated up.
Acacia, which mines in Tanzania, said that production shot up by 51 per cent compared to the three months prior.
Read more: Shareholder Barrick ‘undermined’ our efforts to negotiate $190bn tax bill, Acacia says
Gold output hit 158,774 ounces in the three months to the end of June. Net cash rose by $27m to $125m.
Shares rose on the news this morning, hitting highs of 177.8p, or up 4.1 per cent.
It comes a day after a significant shareholder came out against a takeover bid by Barrick Gold.
Barrick, which already owns around 64 per cent on Acacia, has proposed a $787m bid for the firm.
It hopes the deal would help end a tax dispute with the Tanzanian regime of President John Magufuli.
Magufuli claims that Acacia owes $190bn in back taxes, and has slapped the firm with an export ban on a gold ore.
Acacia has complained that Barrick went over its head to negotiate with Magufuli, and cut it out of the process.
And yesterday Legal and General said Barrick’s behaviour raised questions about whether minority shareholders have been fairly treated.
Analysts at Peel Hunt this morning said that second quarter production had beaten their forecasts by 17 per cent.