Barrick Gold to buy Equinox for C$7.3 billion

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Canada's Barrick Gold Corp. (abx) (ca:abx) said Monday it plans to buy Equinox Minerals Ltd. (ca:eqn) for about C$7.3 billion ($7.67 billion) to expand its potential gold and copper reserves. The deal valued Equinox at C$8.15 a share, a 30% premium to the stock's Feb. 25 closing price, which was the last trading day before Equinox said it would make a takeover bid for Lundin Mining Corp., Barrick said. Equinox will withdraw its bid for Lundin. A closing date was not provided, but the deal is expected to immediately add to Barrick's earnings. Barrick said it has sufficient cash resources and committed financing to fund the acquisition. Financial advisers to Barrick were Morgan Stanley & Co. (ms) and RBC Capital Markets. CIBC World Markets Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. (gs) and TD Securities Inc. acted as financial advisers to Equinox.