daniel chigunwe
Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) is the latest to join the march for the JSE exit door, as Impala Platinum (Implats) announced it would acquire 100 percent of the group after a drawn-out tussle with Northam, which last month threw in the towel and pulled out of the bidding war.
Trading in RBPlat shares will be suspended on Wednesday (2 August), followed by delisting in September.
For the year to the end of June 2023, some 14 equity securities delisted from the JSE and other stock exchanges in SA.
And several other delistings are on the cards or being finalised, among them Liberty Two Degrees (L2D), Steinhoff, Advanced Health, and Indluplace Properties. Premier Fishing was delisted on August 1.
At current rates of exit, 2023 is on track to match or exceed 2022’s 27 delistings.
Last month, Steinhoff shareholders voted to dissolve the company and delist it from the JSE, ending one of SA’s most extraordinary corporate scandals.
Liberty Group has also announced that it will delist the real estate investment trust (Reit) L2D.
Advanced Health and Premier Fishing are also on the way out, which will bring to 20 the number of companies saying goodbye to the JSE so far this year.
Only two new listings . . .
An analysis by Paul Miller of AmaranthCX shows just two new listings on the JSE this year — Copper 360 and Premier Group, which returned to the JSE in March after an 18-year absence.
The 200-year-old company originally listed on the JSE in 1960, but was taken private in 2005 and restructured. Private equity firm Brait raised R3.6 billion through the sale of Premier shares to entities controlled by Christo Wiese, who ends up with 31 percent of the equity, while Brait retains 47 percent.
Copper 360 is a small but promising copper mining and processing company based in the Northern Cape, with some unexpectedly high sampling grades from the Rietberg Copper Mine drill core samples announced in July.
According to Miller, there are 13 more companies in various stages of distress that have had their securities suspended from trading — usually, a precursor to delisting.
One exception to this was Mantengu Mining — its shares were suspended in 2016 before the suspension was lifted in August 2022.
In the case of RBPlat, the delisting is the result of a merger of assets rather than an exit of capital. Those seeking exposure to these assets will now find them under Implats.
“This is a bittersweet moment for me. Having been at the helm of RBPlat for 13 years, I have witnessed the contribution that the business has made to the country,” says RBPlat CEO Steve Phiri.
“However, I firmly believe that this is the logical next step for the industry, and it will enable the combined business to build on the solid foundation that has been laid. The merged entity will combine the complementary strengths and talents of our two companies.
“RBPlat becoming a subsidiary of Implats means that the sum of the parts of the two businesses can maintain or enhance the interests of our shareholders, communities, employees and other stakeholders,” he added.
Implats has acquired 98,73 percent of RBPlat and announced this week that it will invoke Section 124 (1) of the Companies Act by acquiring all outstanding shares. This will result in RBPlat becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Implats. — Moneyweb
Bongani Ndlovu