AngloGold, Ashanti plan May merger launch

South African gold miner AngloGold (ANG) and Ghanaian's Ashanti Goldfields will launch their merger in late May, AngloGold said in a note.

The merger has already received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the European Commission, the Ghana parliament, the Ghana government, which has 16.9% of Ashanti, and Lonmin (LON), which has a 27.5% stake in Ashanti.

Global resources group Anglo American (AGL), with A 54.5% stake in AngloGold, has also given the thumbs up.

Ashanti's shareholders will vote on the matter on April 7, while AngloGold's shareholders are set to endorse the merger on April 8.

The final step in the merger is for the Ghana High Court to review the merger process, which usually can take about two weeks.

The scheduled effective date of the merger is April 27, when the world's second largest gold miner with annual attributable output of 7.3 million ounces will be created. The new entity will rival US gold miner Newmont.