May 20, 2024
South Africa’s Implats Seals $500 Million Black Investor Deal
Bloomberg News
,(Bloomberg) -- Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. announced a 9 billion rand ($500 million) deal that will result in Black investors holding a 13% interest in the South African mining company and the Bafokeng business it acquired last year.
Implats, as the Johannesburg-based company is known, gained control of Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd. almost a year ago, following an 18-month takeover battle with Northam Platinum Ltd. Before the takeover battle, the biggest shareholder in RBPlat was the Bafokeng nation, a community of people in South Africa’s North West Province.
As part of the approval conditions for that acquisition, Implats agreed to promote a greater spread of Black ownership in the platinum producer. Under the so-called black economic empowerment deal, local communities and employees will each hold a 4% stake, while a group led by Siyanda Resources (Pty) Ltd. will have a 5% shareholding, Implats said in a statement on Monday.
South Africa introduced a mining charter in 2004 to distribute the benefits from mining more widely among the country’s citizens to make up for racial discrimination during apartheid. At the time, that included a minimum Black shareholding target of 26%.
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--With assistance from Ana Monteiro.
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