China’s largest gold mining company Zijin Mining is acquiring Canadian miner Allied Gold in an all-cash deal valued at about C$5.5 billion (US$4 billion), reports the South China Morning Post. This is the first major cross-border transaction after Beijing and Ottawa recently reset ties after years of diplomatic strain.
Zijin Gold International, a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Zijin Mining, agreed to buy all issued and outstanding shares of Allied Gold for C$44 per share, according to a joint announcement on Monday.
The announcement follows Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent visit to China–the first by a Canadian leader since 2017–during which he met President Xi Jinping. Carney said Canada was not pursuing a free trade deal with Beijing but was seeking to reduce its economic reliance on the US.