[miningmx] — IMPALA Platinum’s proposal to cede a majority shareholding in Zimplats
under Zimbabwe’s indigenisation laws has been accepted by that country’s
government.
At a press briefing in Harare on Tuesday, Implats CEO David Brown and Zimbabwe’s
Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said under the proposal, an employee
share ownership scheme and a local community would each hold a 10% stake in
Zimplats, while the government’s National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment
Fund (NIEEB) would hold 31%.
Brown said it was “pleasing to be able to submit a plan that complies with the
legislation’ while Kasukuwere hailed the deal as a “win-win’ partnership.
“It cements the principles of agreement. There are obviously details that need to be
worked through – will be worked through over the months to come,’ said Brown. This
was in apparent reference to how the shares will be funded, especially as the
NIEEB is financially crippled.
An Implats statement read the implementation of the plan “will be at appropriate
value’.
Kasukuwere told Reuters after the press conference: “There’s no deadline on when
the finer details of the transaction will be worked out.
“The details are about the value. How do they value the shares? All that is to be
worked out,’ he said.
