The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, Feb. 3, edition that Eldorado Gold chief executive officer George Burns spent the past seven months working on a $3.8-billion bid for Foran Mining. The Globe's Andrew Willis writes that somewhere along the way, Mr. Burns persuaded the Foran board of directors to accept an offer with no takeover premium for a company that owns a massive Saskatchewan copper project. That qualified as a major achievement, as Eldorado's peers have routinely paid double-digit premiums to snap up smaller rivals. On Monday, Mr. Burns took justified pride in spelling out terms of the transaction. Eldorado is paying 0.1128 of its shares and one cent in cash for each Foran share. Investors were less than impressed. Eldorado shares dropped 8.5 per cent on Monday after the company unveiled the Foran acquisition. The bruising reception for Eldorado's offer hides a basic truth: Takeovers done without massive premiums tend to work out well for the buyers. The logic is sound. Merging companies without enriching the seller's shareholders at the expense of the buyer's balance sheet creates a new entity that is bigger, more diversified and financially stronger.