[miningmx.com] — ZAMBIA Copper Investments (ZCI) which has been suspended from trading on the JSE since January 12 this year will be relisted on January 15 following completion of the deal to acquire Botswana junior miner African Copper (ACU).
ZCI will also change its name to ZCI Limited from February 1 as part of management’s new strategy to invest in metals and mining in southern Africa.
ZCI was reclassified as a cash shell in August 2008 following the sale of its 24.8% stake in Konkola Copper Mines to Vedanta for $213m.
The company offered to repurchase stock from its shareholders at $1.86 a share – the net asset value as of August 31 – to allow them to sell out at a fair value following the disposal to Vedanta.
But ZCI management also indicated it wanted to follow a strategy of re-inventing the company as a mining investment vehicle and would go ahead with a new business strategy, provided acceptances of the buy-out offer were less than 78% of the shares in issue.
Acceptances subsequently totalled only 60% of the shares in issue. ZCI went ahead with the new strategy from mid-October 2008 but ran into delays in implementation resulting in its suspension from trading.
ZCI then got into a corporate tussle with ASX-listed Natasa Mining (Natasa) for control of AIM-traded ACU which owns the Mowana copper mine in Botswana.
ZCI eventually won through buying out ACU’s major creditors at 50% of the face value of the debt and now holds 82% of the company.
The company restructured its finances in June splitting the $31m in debt it had acquired into two tranches – one of $8.4m which is convertible into ACU shares and a second tranche of $22.7m which is not convertible.
ZCI is now controlled by a number of its directors through a Bermuda registered “charitable company’ called the Copperbelt Development Foundation which holds 72% of ZCI.
