As reported by the Financial Times, Thornton stated that while he valued Hannam’s input on the merger—seeing “very little downside” in consulting him—he had always planned to work with Wall Street dealmaker Michael Klein.
Hannam testified that he was “shocked” to see Klein’s firm named in the announcement of the merger without any mention of H&P.
Hannam, a former top rainmaker at JPMorgan and nicknamed the “king of mining,” is renowned for brokering high-profile deals in the resource sector, including the 2001 merger of BHP Billiton and the 2012 merger of Glencore and Xstrata.
“The Barrick-Randgold merger has been hugely successful,” said Matthew Hardwick, H&P’s lawyer, during the trial’s opening last week.
“But for Ian Hannam’s vision, it would not have happened,”
Thornton acknowledged in his witness statement that Hannam’s close relationship with Randgold founder Mark Bristow made it useful to keep communication open. However, Thornton emphasized, “I knew that I was never going to appoint Mr. Hannam because I favored and had access to Michael Klein, with whom I had been close for many years.” He added, “Klein was always going to be Barrick’s adviser in connection with the Randgold merger so long as I was involved.”
Thornton further stated, “I did not need Ian Hannam’s help to do a merger.” Barrick’s legal team argued that there was “no written evidence” of any agreement obligating them to pay fees to H&P.
After the Barrick-Randgold merger, Klein continued advising Barrick, including on an unsuccessful $18 billion attempt to acquire Newmont.
