Inside ‘Project Havana’, the $26b merger that shaped Aussie M&A
Newcrest’s tie-up with US peer Newmont resulted in it leaving the ASX after 36 years in December, and more delistings should keep bankers busy in 2024.
When 40 bankers, lawyers and mining executives toasted Australia’s biggest merger of 2023 at St Kilda’s Stokehouse restaurant in November, the festivities had a sense of finality.
Mathew Hocking, JPMorgan’s head of metals and mining, was elated at closing a career-defining transaction, but equally reflective. Hocking helped form the biggest gold producer in the world when the bank advised Newcrest on its $26 billion takeover by US peer Newmont.
