Barrick bails out troubled gold miner Acacia

Acacia Mining’s board is recommending an all-share offer from Canada’s Barrick to buy the 36 per cent of the miner it does not own
Acacia Mining’s board is recommending an all-share offer from Canada’s Barrick to buy the 36 per cent of the miner it does not own

A troubled Tanzanian goldminer has agreed to its majority shareholder taking it over again after an improved $428 million offer to buy out minority investors.

Acacia Mining said that its board would recommend the all-share offer from Barrick, of Canada, to buy the 36 per cent of the company that it does not own as hostility from Tanzania is casting doubt on its survival as an independent.

Acacia was spun out of Barrick and was listed in London as African Barrick Gold in 2010. The FTSE 250 company has been in a dispute with Tanzania for the past two years after the government slapped an export ban on gold concentrate and demanded $190 billion in alleged back taxes.

Barrick, one of the world’s biggest goldminers,