Newmont to buy up to 20% stake in Agincourt

Newmont Mining Corp, the world?s second-largest gold miner, will buy as much as a 20 percent stake in Agincourt Resources Ltd, an Australian gold explorer, subject to approval from shareholders and a government panel, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Newmont will buy as many as 43.48 million new shares in Agincourt at A$1.15 a share, raising A$50 million (US$37.6 million) and becoming its largest shareholder, Agincourt said Monday in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. In addition, Perth-based Agincourt sold 86.96 million shares at the same price to institutional investors, raising A$100 million, it said.

Agincourt is selling the shares to help fund its acquisition of Newmont?s Martabe gold and silver project in Sumatra, Indonesia, which was announced on July 13. The company will pay Newmont $80.3 million for the project, it said.

The issue of the shares to Denver-based Newmont is ?conditional on approvals from shareholders and the Foreign Investment Review Board,? Agincourt said.

The board is a government body that reviews overseas investments in Australia.

The share sale was managed by Deutsche Bank AG and Wilson HTM Investment Group, Agincourt said.

A joint venture with an Indonesian group of companies led by the Dharmawangsa Group has also been formed, with an option for it to acquire as much as 30 percent of the Martabe project, Agincourt said.

Dharmawangsa is a privately owned group of Indonesian companies with interests in energy and real estate, the statement said. Agincourt didn?t name the other members. (*)