Two Vancouver-based gold miners will not get involved in what Eldorado Gold Corp. CEO Paul Wright believes would be a “value-destroying auction” to buy Utah-based Andean Resources (TSX:AND).
Eldorado (TSX:ELD) had bid $3.4 billion last week to buy Andean. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G), then quickly trumped that by offering $3.6 billion (http://www.bivinteractive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3029&Itemid=32 ).
Wright said his shareholders had voiced “a note of caution in terms of Eldorado entering a value-destroying auction whose main result will be the enrichment of short term market participants.”
Eldorado had been interested in Andean primarily for its Cerro Negro gold project in Argentina.
Investors were betting for much of Tuesday that Eldorado would make a higher offer than Goldcorp’s $6.50-per-share cash proposal.
Shares of Andean reached a high of $6.89 before dropping back to close at $6.39.