Canadians snap up Greek group European Goldfields for C$2.5bn

The rush to secure Greece's newly available gold reserves has accelerated after Canada's Eldorado Gold agreed to pay C$2.5bn (£1.6bn) for European Goldfields, a smaller rival focused on the Aegean.

Eldorado's cash-and-shares takeover marks the latest attempt in recent months to control a new supply of Greek gold, which has been up for grabs since the government approved European Goldfields' application to develop three mines in the north-east of the country in July.

However, in October, European Goldfields announced a deal with the Qatar Holding sovereign wealth fund for a $750m loan to develop its Greek mines.

However, since European Goldfields is recommending yesterday's deal to shareholders, analysts expect the company's investors to give their approval, scuppering the Qatari move.