Sibanye’s Aquarius buy gets green light
by Allan Seccombe and Karl Gernetzky,
2016-03-17 06:21:34.0
SIBANYE Gold will complete the purchase of Aquarius Platinum within weeks, after the Competition Tribunal approved the transaction and that of the Rustenburg mines, owned by Anglo American Platinum.
Sibanye is set on a diversification strategy to underpin its dividend-paying ability and its CEO, Neal Froneman, has said there could well be a third platinum transaction to consolidate the platinum belt around Rustenburg.
The platinum division, which may be headed by Aquarius CEO Jean Nel, will initially manage the Aquarius assets, with the $294m deal the first to close, because it does not need approval from the Department of Mineral Resources.
The second transaction — buying the Rustenburg mines for at least R4.5bn in staggered payments — needs Section 11 approval in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
In the past, such approvals have taken a year or more to secure. The conditions the tribunal placed on both deals concerned job cuts and, it limited the Rustenburg transaction to 260 job cuts within two years of consolidation within Sibanye, and 14 job cuts at Aquarius.
"We are very pleased we’ve got approval for these transactions. We found the interaction with the tribunal to be very constructive, positive, and pleasing, which is good for the perception of SA’s regulatory processes," Sibanye spokesman James Wellsted said.
The National Union of Mineworkers, which is dominant at Aquarius, but in the minority at the Rustenburg mines, was concerned about the potential job cuts and would study the tribunal’s ruling.
UPBEAT: Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman addresses the media on the group’s results in Sandton on Thursday. Picture: MARTIN RHODES
SIBANYE Gold will complete the purchase of Aquarius Platinum within weeks, after the Competition Tribunal approved the transaction and that of the Rustenburg mines, owned by Anglo American Platinum.
Sibanye is set on a diversification strategy to underpin its dividend-paying ability and its CEO, Neal Froneman, has said there could well be a third platinum transaction to consolidate the platinum belt around Rustenburg.
The platinum division, which may be headed by Aquarius CEO Jean Nel, will initially manage the Aquarius assets, with the $294m deal the first to close, because it does not need approval from the Department of Mineral Resources.
The second transaction — buying the Rustenburg mines for at least R4.5bn in staggered payments — needs Section 11 approval in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
In the past, such approvals have taken a year or more to secure. The conditions the tribunal placed on both deals concerned job cuts and, it limited the Rustenburg transaction to 260 job cuts within two years of consolidation within Sibanye, and 14 job cuts at Aquarius.
"We are very pleased we’ve got approval for these transactions. We found the interaction with the tribunal to be very constructive, positive, and pleasing, which is good for the perception of SA’s regulatory processes," Sibanye spokesman James Wellsted said.
The National Union of Mineworkers, which is dominant at Aquarius, but in the minority at the Rustenburg mines, was concerned about the potential job cuts and would study the tribunal’s ruling.
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