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Calibre Mining Corp.’s top shareholder has come out against Equinox Gold Corp.’s $1.8 billion bid for the gold miner, casting uncertainty on the biggest bullion deal so far this year.
The combination of the two Canadian companies “dilutes the quality and potential” of Calibre, Imaru Casanova, a portfolio manager at Van Eck Associates Corp. who oversees the firm’s International Investors Gold Fund, wrote in an email Tuesday.
“We are not supportive of this transaction. We don’t see any synergies between any of the companies’ operations,” Casanova wrote. “Both operate in the Americas, but in vastly different locations.”
Calibre and Equinox both rose as much as 2.6% in Toronto on Tuesday. Equinox declined to comment. Calibre didn’t immediately respond to inquiries.
Vancouver-based Equinox agreed to buy Calibre in an all-stock deal in February in a bid to boost…
