Hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, which has built up a stake in Australia’s biggest gold miner, Northern Star Resources Ltd, is calling for a strategic review of the future value creation, including a sale of the company.
Elliott, which discloses that it now holds an investment of well over AUS$1 billion (US$718 million) in Northern Star, has published a presentation titled “Northern Star Rising”, outlining the opportunity for the company to realize the full potential of its world-class gold mining portfolio.
There are clear steps that Northern Star should follow to unlock value for shareholders, according to Elliott, one of the most active asset managers globally.
“Northern Star owes it to its shareholders to promptly explore all strategic alternatives, including a sale of the Company,” Elliott said in the presentation.
“We believe there would be significant strategic interest in Northern Star,” the hedge fund added.
Moreover, Elliott – known for its year-long attempts to force a turnaround at UK-based oil and gas supermajor BP – said that the Australian miner “should prioritise hiring a world-class external CEO with deep operational and turnaround experience to rectify the issues across the portfolio.”
While Northern Star has a world-class portfolio of assets, it has seen “profound underperformance”, at 203% total return underperformance compared to peers over the last three years, Elliott says.
The miner also has the lowest EBITDA multiples of any peer, and has repeatedly taken operational missteps, the activist investor added.
Northern Star has missed guidance seven times in the past four financial years, including four separate guidance reductions in the first three months of 2026, Elliott noted.
“Northern Star must act with urgency to address its deeply discounted valuation,” said the activist hedge fund, which has forced board changes and policy pivots at energy giant BP, to address underperformance and seek simplification of operations.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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