Paulson opposes AngloGold demerger

[miningmx.com] – PAULSON & Co, a 6.6% shareholder in AngloGold Ashanti, is opposed to the gold firm’s $2.1bn rights issue and de-merger proposal which was unveiled on September 10, said Bloomberg News.

In an interview with the newswire, Paulson & Co’s principal, John Paulson, a billionaire hedge fund manager, said: “The concept is good, but the execution, the way they’re doing it with this massive dilutive equity offering, it’s value-destructive”.

“I have absolutely no intention of voting this deal,’ he added.

AngloGold announced plans to raise $2.1bn which would be used to reduce net deb to about $1.1bn from $3.2bn with the remainder of the debt carried by a UK-listed holding firm housing AngloGold’s international assets which would be de-merged.

The South African-based rump of the company would not carry any debt in terms of a condition of approval imposed by the South African Reserve Bank.

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