Centerra Gold agrees to buy Thompson Creek Metals for $176 million

Toronto-based Centerra Gold Inc. says it’s agreed to acquire Thompson Creek Metals Co. in a deal worth roughly $1.1 billion.

Centerra (TSX:CG) said Tuesday it will issue 0.0988 of a share for each Thompson Creek share in a deal that values the company at about $176 million.

The company says it will also take on all of Thompson Creek’s debt, boosting the overall deal value to over a billion dollars.

Thompson Creek’s assets include the Mount Milligan copper-gold mine in British Columbia, as well as molybdenum operations in the province and in the U.S.

The deal gives Centerra control of assets in a stable jurisdiction as it grapples with criminal probes and demands of millions of dollars at its flagship Kumtor gold mine in the Kyrgyz Republic.

To help pay down the Thompson Creek debt, Centerra said it would also raise about $170 million in a bought-deal financing with BMO Capital Markets, Credit Suisse Securities Canada and Scotiabank.