TORONTO (CP) -- Goldcorp Inc.'s [NYSE:GG; TSX:G] chief executive says the acquisition of Glamis Gold Ltd. [TSX:GLG; NYSE:GLG] will go ahead as planned and defended the deal's merits, despite attempts by the company's founder and former chairman to derail it.
Ian Telfer, who earlier this week dismissed a call for a shareholder vote on the deal, said Friday that the deal will ''be over in five weeks, and I don't expect anything to change that.''
''The stock market, by trading the stocks so close to the final ratio, is telling you that this deal is going ahead, that there will not be another bidder and that this deal will close,'' he said in an interview from Vancouver, where Goldcorp is headquartered.
On Tuesday, founder Rob McEwen accused Goldcorp of breaking Ontario business laws when it refused shareholders a vote. He also reiterated his assertions that the deal was too expensive, would cause too much share dilution and that Glamis was not a good fit for the company.
Telfer dismissed concerns about Goldcorp paying too much for Glamis on Friday, saying that while Glamis wasn't ''cheap,'' Goldcorp ''paid a good price for it.''
''I know what's coming, I know how big it's going to get,'' he said.
''I have total confidence, as the drilling continues and as the results come out (skeptics) will look back - as they have with so many of the acquisitions that I've made - and go: 'Was that ever a good acquisition.'''
The friendly $8.6-billion deal is supported by the boards of both companies and requires approval by two-thirds of Glamis shareholders, but not Goldcorp's.
Telfer said he talked with Goldcorp's ''top 100 shareholders'' and ''the only one who wants a vote is Rob McEwen.''
The Glamis transaction follows Goldcorp's takeover of Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. last year and the $1.5-billion addition of several former Placer Dome mines earlier this year.
Glamis shareholders will receive 1.69 shares of Goldcorp for each Glamis share and end up holding about 40% of the new company, Canada's newest senior gold miner.
On Friday, Goldcorp shares were trading up 17 cents at C$26.75 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, well off its 52-week high of C$45.99. Glamis stock was at up 17 cents at C$44.52.
(c) The Canadian Press 2006
