RE:Question?Lets see... close to twenty billion to buy Newcrest....hmmm pay down as much of that debt and then hope that the earnings potential of your newfound assets starts to prove itself
Of course we could go the Bell Canada route ...confound the shareholders ..promise to pay down debt and then in just days do another mammoth acquisition at an extremely high price.
The problem of course is that you can only buy coveted assets when the opportunity presents itself...and the timing may not coincide with your ability. In the old days mining companies usually went on acquisition binges when the markets were hot and their currency (their stock price )was also at a high. This meant buying at the peak. The opposite of what we retail investors try to do. Buy low sell high is a pretty good mantra.
Thats what you pay management for...some superior decision making....course you dont allways get what you pay for!