Barrick sells stake in Russian Highland Gold Mining cheap

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX)(TSX:ABX) announced today the sale of its entire 20% stake in Highland Gold Mining Limited (LON:HGM), the AIM-quoted Russian gold producer, at a price of 120 pence per share to undisclosed institutional investors.

The shares, which closed at 131.5 pence yesterday, were placed primarily with new and existing institutional shareholders of Highland, said Barrick in a press release.

Highland dropped to a 20-month low in London trading today after Barrick announced the sale.

On February 13, Highland announced that Barrick had determined that Highland was non-core to its business operations and strategy, and that it intended to divest its stake in the company.