Barrick Gold has withdrawn from talks with the China National Gold Group regarding the US$2.32bn sale of its African unit
Barrick has stepped back from the negotiations despite hopes that the discussions would end in a satisfactory transaction for both parties saying that, while a sale would have been desirable, the company does not need to sell the unit.
Barrick CEO Jamie Sokalsky told Bloomberg, “The company’s African subsidiary does have some opportunities to enhance its value, and when we looked at that versus ultimately what China National Gold was offering, it just wasn’t the right fit.
“We would have liked to do this transaction, but it wasn’t worth it at this point.”
The Chinese media has, however, reported that taxes and legacy issues had caused differences between the companies regarding the sale.
Sowalsky maintained that the sale of the African unit would not have made a good business sense for Barrick, hence the discussions were ended.
The CEO commented, “This is a big asset, it’s a significant transaction for anyone. It’s a public company and ultimately over time multiple things came into the equation. It just didn’t make sense for both of us to complete this transaction.”
Sowalsky also revealed that multiple Barrick assets have been receiving attention from potential buyers.
