The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday, Feb. 25, edition that Equinox Gold agreed to acquire Calibre Mining in a $2.6-billion all-stock deal that will give it additional production of the precious metal in the U.S. and Nicaragua. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that the combined company is expected to be Canada's second-largest producer of the metal, the two miners said in a statement late Sunday. Shareholders will receive 0.31 of an Equinox share for each Calibre share. The deal comes with no premium, which could open Equinox's offer to the risk of a competing bid, said Toronto-Dominion Bank analyst Steven Green in a note. "We would anticipate that some Calibre shareholders will be looking for a higher price which includes a change of control premium," he said. The proposed acquisition follows a spate of other gold deals over the last year, including Gold Fields' purchase of Osisko Mining and Anglogold Ashanti's acquisition of Centamin. Gold miners are generating bumper profits on soaring bullion prices, which have rallied to a record over the past year and currently hover close to $3,000 (U.S.) an ounce.