ANGLO American said on Wednesday it would sell its remaining shares in Valterra Platinum equal to 19,9% in the company worth R44bn.
The transaction, by way of a bookbuild, comes just as a 90 day lock up agreed by Anglo post the demerger of Valterra end May expired.
Commenting on the transaction, Anglo noted the strong performance of Valterra shares since the demerger.
“Valterra Platinum has made a strong start as a standalone company and we continue to have every confidence in its future as the world’s leading integrated value chain producer of PGMs,” said Duncan Wanblad, CEO of Anglo.
“This placing marks further progress in our responsible separation process and a further step in our portfolio simplification to focus on our world-class positions in copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients,” he added.
Shares in Valterra closed 8.8% higher in Johannesburg valuing the company at R225bn and representing a 59% improvement year-to-date.
Platinum and palladium have staged a strong recovery so far this year up 58% and 19% respectively. The metals helped soften the blow of a rain-interruped first quarter for Valterra, known as Anglo American Platinum whilst a listed subsidiary of Anglo. Valterra slid into net debt as of June but expects to be debt neutral by year-end.
As for Anglo American, the sale of the remaining shares in Valterra come at a time when a restructuring involving the sale of its metallurgical coal, nickel and diamond assets, unveiled by Wanblad in May last year, runs into headwinds.
Botswana has a strong stance on the proposed sale of Anglo’s 85% stake in De Beers saying it wants to buy the company, potentially making the divestment more complex. In addition, US coal miner Peabody Energy has pulled out of the $3.8bn purchase of the metallurgical mines.
Most recently, Brazil opened an investigation into Anglo’s proposed disposal of its nickel assets in the country, according to a report by the Financial Times on Wednesday.
