IMPALA Platinum (Implats) is to delist Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) after acquiring more than 90% of the company in a cash and shares takeover launched just over 18 months ago.
As per its takeover offer, which closed on Friday (July 21), Implats owns about 98% of RBPlat. In terms of the Companies Act it is now entitled to acquire outstanding shares. It will then delist RBPlat, it said in an announcement.
These final administrative steps bring to an end a caustic takeover battle between Implats and Northam Platinum for RBPlat. Northam surprised the market on July 20 by accepting Implats’ offer after long telling the market it would be content with holding a 34.5% minority stake in RBPlat.
Paul Dunne, Northam CEO, told Miningmx that a serious decline in basket price of platinum group metals (PGMs), down roughly 29% in dollar terms this year, had changed the complexion of his firm’s investment.
In April, he pulled an offer for RBPlat launched only a month earlier making a similar argument that the market for PGMs had changed drastically. “Short term cashflow is important,” said Dunne last week.
Analysts acknowledged huge benefits would flow from Northam’s divestment of RBPlat, not least of which is that in accepted Implats R150/share cash and shares offer, it will be in a position to pay dividends.
For its part, Implats will be able to more easily extract operational synergies between its older shafts in its Rustenburg business which neighbour RBPlat’s younger shafts.
