Barrick's (NYSE:ABX) Regent Patiently Waiting on Next Move

Shareholders at Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) been getting a little excited about what the next move of CEO Aaron Regent will be after spinning off their African assets into a publicly traded company, ridding the company of its hedging program and cutting 80 top-level jobs to lower expenses.

While there have been some moves towards growth, like the increasing of its stake in Cerro Casale project in Chile and the attempt to acquire controlling interest in the El Morro project, also in Chile, which they lost out on to Goldcorp (NYSE:GG), although they've taken them to court over how the transaction went down.

But overall, after two years on the job, expectations of a significant acquisition has been simmering beneath the surface, and it shouldn't be a problem for Barrick when the right asset comes along.

Regent recently said that it shouldn't be a surprise if the company does make an acquisition, but their strong market position makes it unnecessary, seeming to imply he'll only do it if the deal makes sense.

A lot of companies may have overpaid for assets because of the huge boost in gold prices, which has strongly increased the valuation of those acquired, or could be acquired.

Regent also notes that even with acquisitions by its competitors, he doesn't believe Barrick has missed out on anything, suggesting their market position allows them to be very discerning in what they do.

In other words, Barrick is the exit strategy of a majority of gold miners, and they have more flexibility and choices than any of their competitors, and it appears Regent will be patient until he gets what he wants. That's good news for Barrick shareholders, even they they be getting a little impatient about growing the company via acquisitions.