Jonathan Oppenheimer, chairman, De Beers
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Oppenheimers sell R5.8bn Anglo stake
Allan Seccombe
Posted: Fri, 10 Nov 2006

[miningmx.com] -- THE Oppenheimer family has sold a third of its stake in Anglo American to China Vision Resources as it diversifies its portfolio out of commodities and into other projects focussed in Africa, Jonathan Oppenheimer said on Friday.

"We have sold in an off-market transaction one third of our stake in Anglo American to China Vision Resources, a company we got in contact with," Oppenheimer told Miningmx.

"We were put in contact with China Vision as a potential buyer and they offered us a very attractive price," he added.
offered us a very attractive price
The decision by the Oppenheimer family investment company, E Oppenheimer & Son, to sell 17 million Anglo shares worth R5.73bn at Thursday's closing price was prompted by Anglo's decision to restructure its portfolio of assets, said Nicky Oppenheimer, who will remain on Anglo's board as a non-executive director.

Anglo, whose shares were last 3.5% higher at R349 each on nearly two million shares traded, is diversifying out of AngloGold Ashanti, their paper and packaging company Mondi, it has sold its 79% stake in Highveld Vanadium and Steel and is restructuring its sugar, property and aluminium company Tongaat Hulett.

“While Anglo American was for many years a diversified business, its transformation into a focused mining company has left the family with limited exposure to other sectors," Nicky Oppenheimer said in a statement.

“E Oppenheimer & Son will use the proceeds to invest into sectors that are traditionally counter cyclical to its major investments in the mining industry,” he said.

The Oppenheimers will retain more than 2% of Anglo American, the world's third largest mining company as well as their 40% stake in De Beers, a company in which Anglo holds a 45% stake.

The sale was seen as less of a vote of no-confidence in Anglo and more of taking advantage of the strong run up in Anglo's share price this year, said Nigel Suliaman, a portfolio manager at Metropolitan Asset Management in Cape Town.

"The Oppenheimers are ultra-long term investors... The Anglo share price has had a very good run and their perspective is to cash in while the going is good," he said. "The positive thing is that there is a buyer of such a big stake at this point in the cycle."

"If it was truly an issue of no confidence they would have tried to get rid of everything, or even place it in the market," he said. The retention of some 34m shares in Anglo was seen as strategic because of Anglo's stake in De Beers.

Jonathan Oppenheimer said because the transaction was off-market the family was declining to reveal the price tag.
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"The intention from our side was to re-balance our portfolio away from the resource sector," he said. "We've had an overweight exposure to the resources sector for a substantial period of time and it's been on our minds," he said.

"We will be redeploying some of it into Africa," he said.

Some of the cash will be going to a private equity vehicle run by Peter Maw and an operationally focussed investment vehicle called Africa Holdings that takes a longer-term view than traditional private equity activities, he said.

"It's with an eye to being away from resources," he added.

Maw heads ups a South African private equity business, and through the injection of additional capital in the course of next year, the Oppenheimers will increase their exposure to South Africa, the statement said.

China Vision is led by Larry Yung, Oppenheimer said. Yung, 64, is China's second-richest person and chairman of Citic Pacific Ltd., according to Forbes magazine, Bloomberg reported.