AngloGold: Winning Hearts and Minds

Description

AngloGold: Winning Hearts and Minds: Abstract

AngloGold: Winning Hearts and Minds is a case study by Dominik Heil, Lisa Papania and Tessa Murray.

Having met in London with Sir Sam Jonah, chief executive of Ashanti, in September 2002, Bobby Godsell, chief executive of AngloGold, announced on 16 April 2003 that discussions with Ashanti regarding a proposed merger had commenced. By August 2003, merger discussions were proceeding as planned, when the shock entry of Randgold Resources as a competitive bidder forced Anglogold to reassess its strategy. While AngloGold’s bid ($1.1 billion) came with technical competence, Randgold Resources, with a “huge” offer of $1.46 billion, appealed to people’s emotions and sense of national pride. At the beginning of October 2003, it was still unclear when the Ghanaian government would make its decision. Paul Dennison, AngloGold’s manager of mergers and acquisitions, needed to advise CEO Bobby Godsell on the best course of action.

Teaching objectives

This case is the second in a series on the merger and integration the gold mining organisations, AngloGold and Ashanti. Each case intends to generate learning on various aspects of strategy as they related to international mergers and acquisitions.

• See Case A: Anglogold: Choosing a Merger Target
• See Case C: Anglogold Ashanti Ltd: The Integration