Polyus CEO: Kazakhgold takeover on track - FT

LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - Polyus Gold , Russia's top gold miner, is on track to complete its reverse takeover of UK-listed Kazakhgold KZGq.L as it looks to merge with top foreign peers, the Financial Times on Monday quoted Polyus's chief executive as saying.

German Pikhoya told the paper in an interview that the company was on track to take over Kazakhgold by July 25 and would use the acquired listing as a platform for another merger.

"We are talking about establishing one of the biggest gold mining companies, which basically means we are (looking at merging with) big, big players," he said.

Pikhoya noted that the listing was key to Polyus's future success as London was a "historic host for mining and gold mining companies" and offered access to a wide investor base.

Polyus's co-owner and then chief executive Mikhail Prokhorov said in May he was seeking an international merger partner for Polyus and was hoping to complete a deal by the end of the year.

In June, Polyus board member Evygeny Ivanov told Reuters that the company was not in merger talks with overseas rivals Newmont Mining Corp , Newcrest Mining and AngloGold Ashanti . (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)