“I don’t believe it makes sense to combine a company like ours with a gold company,” Adkerson said. “But I don’t criticize Mark (Bristow) for thinking we have good assets.”
A surge in copper prices to eight-year highs has pushed up valuations of producers of the metal used in wiring, with Freeport’s stock nearly tripling in the past 12 months.
The combination of Freeport’s improving sales and stock price has seemingly shooed away potential bidders, including Barrick. Last year, Barrick CEO Mark Bristow expressed interest in Freeport.
At the time, Barrick’s market value was twice that of Freeport. Now, given its stock surge, Freeport is worth $20 billion more than Barrick. Bristow told investors his first priority now is to expand the assets Barrick already owns.
(With files from Reuters)
