by Jon Yeomans
Telegraph.co.uk
Gold miner Petropavlovsk, which last year nearly went out of business, has staged a comeback with a brace of deals that could mark a new era for hard-pressed investors.
The Russia-focussed company, founded by Peter Hambro, scion of the family that founded City institution Hambros Bank, is to buy another gold miner in an all-share deal worth $144m (£99m), while launching a joint venture to help finish a costly processing plant.
The acquisition of Amur Zoloto will help the company “bulk up”, according to Mr Hambro, Petropavlovsk’s chairman, making it more attractive to institutional investors. “Shareholders have been keen for us to buy things… it’s to help us bulk up the maths of Petropavlovsk, and there has been a move towards consolidation in the industry.”