Randgold, AngloGold bid $488 mln for Moto Goldmines

By Eric Onstad

LONDON (Reuters) - African miners Randgold Resources (RRS.L) and AngloGold Ashanti (ANGJ.J) teamed up on Thursday to make a counterbid worth C$546 million (297 million pounds) for Moto Goldmines MGL.TO, which owns a project in the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo.

They said their cash-and-shares bid worth C$5.00 per share was superior to a friendly all-share deal with Red Back Mining (RBI.TO) announced on June 1.

Moto shares in Toronto jumped 10.1 percent to C$5.14, implying investors expect a bidding war may emerge.

The deal will boost growth prospects for Randgold (GOLD.O) as its extends its reach from West Africa into Congo, where many rivals have been wary of entering due to an unstable political situation and continued unrest in the east.

Randgold has experience in risky countries -- it is currently developing the Tongon mine in Ivory Coast, which is still recovering from a bitter civil war in 2002-03.

"Randgold's strong, experienced technical and management teams ... will be combined in the development of the Moto Gold project with the technical and financial capabilities of AngloGold, Africa's largest gold producer," a statement said.

Randgold shares fell 1.6 percent to 3,810 pence by 1415 GMT, lagging the UK mining index .FTNMX1770, while AngloGold shares in Johannesburg shed 1.6 percent to 295.29 rand, but analysts were largely positive.

"The transaction would represent a sensible use of RRS's equity... and would provide additional long-term growth potential beyond the already substantial organic growth the company has," Citigroup analyst Liam Fitzpatrick said.