Barrick Gold, based in Toronto, sold shares in its African arm for 275 apiece, it said in a statement.
UBS AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Royal Bank of Canada managed the sale.
The parent had already held talks with China National Gold Group Corp. in 2012 over selling its majority stake, with discussions ending in January of last year without agreement.
Barrick Chief Executive Officer Jamie Sokalsky is seeking to boost profit and returns after gold’s biggest annual drop in three decades last year.
He cut output forecasts and spending, and sold about $1 billion of assets in the past eight months.
The company also suspended construction of its delayed and over budget Pascua-Lama project on the Argentina-Chile border.
“This transaction allows us to realize some liquidity,” Sokalsky said in the statement. It’s part of the “program to optimize and lower the average cost of our portfolio.”
African Barrick has been dogged by setbacks since it first listed in London, struggling to meet production targets. When listed it planned annual output of 1 million ounces in 2014.
Instead, it posted declines for three years and has been surpassed by rivals Randgold Resources Ltd. and Petropavlovsk Plc. Chief Executive Officer Greg Hawkins quit in August.
Brad Gordon was hired as replacement to try to reverse the company’s fortunes.
African Barrick, which operates mines in Tanzania, in January, reported its first annual increase in production since listing.
Its shares are still up 13 percent in the past 12 months, while the 30-member Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold and Silver Index have declined 25 percent.
