BREAKINGVIEWS — Gold Fields' $27 bln play may stay in M&A pit

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) By Antony Currie MELBOURNE, Oct 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) — The South African miner's offer for rival Northern Star seems logical. But the target, under pressure from activist fund Elliott, wants more money and the buyer's shares have slumped 17%. Even the $5 bln of synergies have failed to impress. Excavating a deal looks beyond them. Full view will be published shortly. Follow Antony Currie on Bluesky and LinkedIn. Context News Gold Fields CEO Mike Fraser played down speculation that the South African gold producer will raise its offer for Australia's Northern Star Resources in an interview with Reuters on October 15. He may, though, consider increasing the cash component of the bid, the AFR reported. His company privately lodged a A$38.7 billion ($26.8 billion) cash-and-stock offer with its Down Under rival on September 14. The Australian Financial Review broke the news of the offer on September 28. (Editing by Robyn Mak; Production by Aditya Srivastav) ((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on CURRIE/ mailto:antony.currie@thomsonreuters.com)