Source: Mergermarket.com 12/28/2011
Eldorado Gold (TSE: ELD) may become an attractive target following its planned acquisition of European Goldfields for CAD 2.5bn (USD 2.4bn), said two sources familiar with the transaction and two industry bankers.
The deal will make Vancouver, British Columbia-based Eldorado a “gold mining powerhouse in Greece” and it will start seeing serious acquisition interest as its mines move closer to production, the first industry banker said.
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With Eldorado’s goal to produce about 1.5m ounces of gold annually in 2015, it will “certainly get on the radars” of gold majors globally over the next two to three years, the second industry banker said.
Logical suitors would be mining majors like Newmont Mining or Barrick Gold, the first source said. A major with a focus in base metals like BHP Billiton or Freeport-McMoran could also find Eldorado attractive in order to expand its footprint in the gold sector, the source added.