** Citi says Australian gold miner Northern Star's NST.AX A$5 bln ($3.24 bln) deal to buy De Grey Mining DEG.AX "makes sense" as it helps co mitigate its ageing, capex-intensive portfolio
** Jefferies says the deal will allow NST to optimise its asset portfolio with potential divestment of superfluous assets
** Citi, however, expects investors doubting if there is a risk of a counter bidder
** Jefferies says if the deal was to become contested, then Gold Road Resources' GOR.AX ~17% stake in DEG will deliver a high degree of strategic flexibility to any counter-bidder
** Both brokerages believe DEG's Hemi gold deposit has a significant exploration upside and will be value accretive to NST
** Citi downgrades NST to "neutral" from "buy", noting 25% share price increase since mid-CY; lowers PT to A$17.00 from A$18.30 on EPS dilution
** Jefferies maintains NST's "buy" rating, A$19.50 PT
** As of last close, NST stock up 21.5% YTD
($1 = 1.5458 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Nichiket Sunil)
((Nichiket.Sunil@thomsonreuters.com))
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