New Gold closes US$300M partnership with Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan

New Gold (TSX: NGD; NYSE-AM: NGD) has closed a strategic partnership with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) to acquire a 46% free cash flow interest in the company’s New Afton mine for an upfront cash payment of US$300 million. The proceeds are to be used to reduce the company’s debt and increase its financial flexibility. “The partnership agreement is a great deal and a great outcome and followed a considerable amount of work and diligence on our part,” Renaud Adams, New Gold’s president and CEO, said in a telephone interview. “We were looking for a partner with an upfront cash payment and who was willing to be patient over the next four years, and the free cash payment approach from Ontario’s Teachers Pension Plan represented the right structure for us to focus on the bottom line, with both parties recognizing what a great opportunity the partnership represented.” New Gold is a Canadian-based intermediate gold mine company. Its portfolio includes two producing mines in Canada: Rainy River, a gold-silver mine 65 km northwest of Fort Frances in Ontario and New Afton, a gold-copper mine 350 km northeast of Vancouver in British Columbia.