LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Newmont Mining said on Monday that it would pay its shareholders a special dividend of $0.88 a share if they approve its $10bn acquisition of Goldcorp.
The Colorado-based miner said the special dividend - which would be payable as of 17 April - delivers value to existing Newmont shareholders with an immediate cash payment for a portion of the synergy potential arising from the Nevada joint venture with Barrick Gold.

Newmont and Barrick estimate synergies of $500m per year for the first five years pre-tax, with ongoing synergies over a 20-year period.

Chief executive officer Gary Goldberg said: "We are pleased to make this special dividend payable to Newmont's current shareholders in recognition of the potential synergy value of the Nevada joint venture agreement.

"We have continued to engage with, and have listened carefully to, our shareholders, and we are pleased that several of our largest shareholders have expressed their support for the combination with Goldcorp."

Newmont announced back in January that it had agreed to buy Goldcorp in a deal that would create the world's leading gold business.

Under the terms of the transaction, Newmont would buy each Goldcorp share for 0.3280 of a Newmont share. Newmont shareholders would own around 65% of the enlarged entity, while Goldcorp holders would own the rest.

Since then, however, Newmont shareholders including Paulson & Co and Van Eck International have argued that the proposed deal would transfer too much of the $5bn synergies from the Barrick JV to Goldcorp shareholders.

Goldcorp shareholders are due to vote on the deal on 4 April, while Newmont holders will decide on 11 April.

At 1500 GMT, Newmont shares were up 1% at $34.84 and Goldcorp shares were 2.4% higher at $11.06.

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