An untimely proposal

摘要

IN THE MOVIES weddings often feature a dramatic moment where the minister asks the congregation whether anyone objects to the union. On February 25th Barrick Gold performed the corporate equivalent of a spurned lover leaping to their feet mid-ceremony, offering $18bn to buy American gold firm Newmont Mining before it could consummate its $10bn takeover of Gold-corp, a Canadian one. Newmont was rushing into an "ill-conceived" merger and should stop to consider Barrick's unsolicited "but clearly superior" bid, said Mark Bristow, Barrick's chief executive. New-mont's boss, Gary Goldberg, called the intervention "desperate and bizarre". After some grim years for the industry, the gold price is picking up and big miners want to grow bigger. The easiest and safest way to do that is to buy someone else's mines. To which end Toronto-based Barrick bought Randgold Resources, a South African firm, for $6bn in a deal that closed in January. Newmont hopes to complete buying Goldcorp later this year.