Wednesday, 11th January 2006 (2671 views)

South African gold miner Gold Fields has upped its offer for Bolivar Gold by $30 million in an attempt to appease its target's largest shareholder.

Gold Fields' bid now stands at $360 million, with Bolivar shareholders scheduled to vote on the deal tomorrow (January 12th).

Bolivar's board has always supported Gold Fields' bid but its largest shareholder – fund manager Scion – has voiced scepticism.

Scion circulated a letter to all Bolivar shareholders last month arguing that the original offer did not represent shareholder value.

Gold Fields is unsure how Scion will react to the latest plot twist but is confident that shareholders will give the deal their blessing.

"Whether this satisfies them, we would hope so, and we look forward to getting into the meeting and seeing the final vote," Gold Fields' John Munroe told Reuters.

Bolivar is headquartered in Canada but is prized by Gold Fields for its Choco 10 gold pit in Venezuela.

The location is set to churn out 190,000 ounces of gold in 2006.

The mine would help Gold Fields towards reaching its foreign output target of 1.5 million ounces by 2009 as it seeks to reduce reliance on South Africa.

 

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