Gold and iron producer Eldorado Gold Corp. says it will buy European Goldfields Ltd. in a deal worth about $2.4 billion, increasing up its ability to produce gold.

The Vancouver, Canada, company says European Goldfields stockholders will receive 0.85 Eldorado share and a fraction of a Canadian cent for each European Goldfields share. That values each European Goldfields at 13.08 Canadian dollars ($12.59), based on Eldorado's closing stock price on the Toronto Stock Exchange Friday.

European Goldfields operates a mine in Greece and is developing projects in both Greece and Romania. Eldorado operates in China, Turkey, Brazil and Greece.

Eldorado says the deal will create a company with a market capitalization of about $10.59 billion and help diversify production. The deal requires approval from both Eldorado and European Goldfields shareholders.