AngloGold Ashanti buys Centamin for $2.5bn to take control of Egypt's Sukari mine

AngloGold Ashanti announced on 10 September 2024 that it would acquire Centamin, the London-listed owner of Egypt's Sukari gold mine, in a deal valuing the company at about £1.9bn, or $2.5bn.

Terms

Centamin shareholders received 0.06983 new AngloGold shares plus $0.125 in cash for each Centamin share, a 37% premium to the closing price the day before the announcement. After completion, AngloGold shareholders owned about 83.6% of the enlarged company and former Centamin investors about 16.4%. AngloGold's shares fell as much as 9.8% in Johannesburg on the day, their steepest intraday drop in three years, while Centamin rose 24% in London.

The asset

Sukari is Egypt's first modern gold mine and its largest. It has produced more than 5.9 million ounces since 2009 and had a projected mine life of 14 years at the time of the deal. It was expected to add about 450,000 ounces a year to AngloGold's output, taking the group to about 3.1 million ounces and making it the world's fourth-largest gold producer.

Completion

Egypt's competition authority cleared the transaction in October 2024, shareholders of both companies approved it later that month, and the scheme of arrangement became effective on 22 November 2024. Egypt's petroleum and mineral resources ministry has since said the change of ownership does not affect the state's rights or revenue from Sukari.

Why it matters

The deal expanded AngloGold's African footprint beyond Ghana, Guinea and Tanzania, and it has paid off as gold prices climbed. In February 2026 Business Day described the Egyptian acquisition as one that had paid off for AngloGold.

Sources

• MINING.COM: AngloGold Ashanti to buy Centamin for $2.5 billion, 10 Sept 2024
• allAfrica: Egypt: Anglogold Gets Egypt's Sukari Mine in $2.5B Centamin Acquisition, 10 Sept 2024
• Miningmx: Egypt gives clearance to AngloGold takeover of Centamin, 15 Oct 2024
• Mining Weekly: AngloGold's buyout of Centamin effective, 22 Nov 2024
• Mining Weekly: AngloGold, Centamin shareholders approve acquisition, 29 Oct 2024
• Business Day: AngloGold's Egyptian acquisition pays off, 23 Feb 2026
• Hebdo Ahram: Egypt rights in Sukari Gold Mine unaffected by AngloGold Ashanti's acquisition of Centamin: Ministry, 02 Sept 2026

Photo: The Red Sea coast at Marsa Alam in Egypt's Eastern Desert region, where the Sukari gold mine is located. Taha Ahmed, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.