Gold Takeovers Set Record to Boost Fees at BMO, HSBC

Global gold mining takeovers set a record this year with “chest-beating” miners chasing deals as the price of the metal surged, boosting fees at advisory banks BMO Capital Markets, HSBC Bank Plc and Merrill Lynch.

Kinross Gold Corp.’s purchase of Red Back Mining Inc. for about $7.1 billion yesterday took the value of gold deals to $32 billion this year, accounting for 38 percent of all mining acquisitions, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s more than twice last year’s total for the industry.