Equinox to buy Leagold for about $578 million

(Reuters) - Canada's Equinox Gold Corp <EQX.TO> will buy rival Leagold Mining Corp <LMC.TO> for C$769.3 million ($578.38 million), the company said on Monday, the latest consolidation in the industry that has seen deals worth $30.5 billion so far this year.

Led by top producers Newmont Goldcorp Corp <NEM.N> and Barrick Gold Corp <ABX.TO>, miners are bulking up to replace dwindling reserves and win back investors who in recent years shunned the sector because of disappointing returns.

The offer, which implies a no-premium consideration of C$2.70 per share, will help Equinox add Leagold's four mines in Mexico and Brazil to its own California-Brazil focused portfolio.

Leagold shareholders will get 0.331 of an Equinox share for each share they own and will hold 45% of the combined company, Equinox said.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020.

In a related development, London's Centamin Plc <CEY.L> earlier on Monday agreed to assess the feasibility of a merger with Canada's Endeavour Mining Corp <EDV.TO>, having earlier rejected a 1.47 billion pound ($1.89 billion) all-stock takeover proposal as inadequate.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V and Sriraj Kalluvila)