Goldcorp confident takeover of Osisko will go through

Goldcorp Inc. chairman Ian Telfer says hes not surprised no one has stepped forward to top the Vancouver miners $2.9 billion offer for Montreal gold company Osisko Mining Corp.

In the two months since Goldcorp made the hostile bid, the Quebec company has been insisting that shareholders can get a better deal elsewhere.But Telfer is confident the deal will go through.

The landscape has changed and a few billion dollars is a lot and weve put a billion of that in cash, Telfer said in an interview Wednesday with CBCs The Lang & OLeary Exchange.

Theres very few companies that could step up to that and a number of our big competitors have got other challenges right now. Thats keeping them out of the bidding, which was again part of our decision to go ahead.

One of the other challenges is that many gold miners are overextended and selling off properties because of the steep fall in gold prices last year.

Malartic mine is valued property

TelfersaidGoldcorphad no choice but to make a hostile bid.

They cut off negotiations. Weve been trying to deal with them for five years and its been on again, off again as theyve built the mine. We were in discussions with them as recently as November but there were some bits of information we were waiting for and they decided they didnt want to give us that information and they wanted to terminate the discussions. So we really were without a choice, he said.

Osiskois developing the CanadianMalarticgold mine, a significant gold find in theAbitibiregion of Quebec.

Goldcorpbelieves the mine will have low sustainability costs going forward and has been trying to gain access to specifications on the mine since before it made its bid forOsisko.

Earlier this month,Goldcorpagreed not to take up and pay for anyOsiskoshares under its offer until April 15, whileOsiskoagreed to waive its shareholder rights plan by April 14.

Osiskoalso agreed to provideGoldcorpwith access to due diligence materials starting April 1.

"Were getting an excellent asset. Thats why were bidding on it. Thats why were paying $2.9 billion for it,"Telfersaid.

Under terms of the offer,Osiskoshareholders are entitled to receive 0.146 of aGoldcorpcommon share plus $2.26 in cash for eachOsiskocommon share.

Goldcorpexpects to start taking up shares April 15.TelfersaidGoldcorpshareholders and shareholders who own stock in both companies believe its a good deal, but dont wantGoldcorpto overbid.

Goldcorp says its already pushed up Osisko shares

We think there are big advantages to theOsiskoshareholders. First of all, we are offering them a premium. Since Dec. 1 when we stopped talking to them, their stock is up 90 per cent,Telfersaid.

Thats why we think the price weve offered is fair. Theyve had a great ride so there are buyers in there more recently and they always want more, but if you are a long-termOsiskoshareholder, this has been wonderful and were responsible for it, he added.

Telfersaid he believes the price of gold is bottoming out and there may be a better year ahead for gold mining companies.

With all the challenges going on in the world, plus all the currencies being devalued, I think the future for gold looks very, very bright and I think were going to come out of this price slump faster than the base metals, he said.