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Northam Platinum is officially the largest shareholder of Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) after it successfully acquired a 32,5 percent stake in the miner.
The deal, valued at around R17,2 billion for part of Royal Bafokeng Holdings’ (RBH) stake in the RBPlat, also includes an option for Northam to acquire 0,58 percent.
RBH on the other hand still has the 0,58 percent, plus a 2,7 percent shareholding interest held through Emikaway, one of its subsidiaries.
Northam’s share price fell by nearly 2,5 percent in morning trade, while RBPlat dropped by 0.7 percent.
The Northam deal had previously surprised investors and succeeded where Impala Platinum (Implats) had not, after Implats announced last month that it wanted to buy RBPlat.
Bloomberg previously reported that a potential deal with Implats would help the miner exploit synergies from deposits adjacent to its sprawling Rustenburg mining complex. The merged company would have produced 3.45 million ounces a year, overtaking Sibanye Stillwater and Anglo American Platinum in terms of output, and rivalling Russian giant MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC.
Royal Bafokeng Platinum and Implats later withdrew a cautionary statement they had jointly issued on 27 October, explaining that RBPlats had since been advised by its single largest shareholder at the time, RBH, that it no longer supported the transaction and would vote against the proposed scheme.
Northam chief executive officer Paul Dunne said earlier in November that its own deal for RBPlat would facilitate a “compelling and complementary synergistic fit between the business operations” with potential to “create and unlock significant value for shareholders of both companies”. – fin24
Online Reporter