JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The success of gold miner Sibanye Gold’s R4.5-billion bridging loan refinancing, in December last year, demonstrates the opportunities and value that can be unlocked for African organisations through synergistic partnerships between local and global financial institutions, Nedbank Capital head of resources finance Peter van Kerckhoven said on Monday.

Nedbank had, together with Bank of China Johannesburg, acted as two of the three mandated lead arrangers for the Sibanye transaction, with Nedbank and Bank of China Johannesburg holding the largest commitments under the new facilities.

“Sibanye’s previous debt package was created to support its demerger from Gold Fields in February 2013 and now, just one year later, the business has been able to improve the terms of its debt financing – benefiting from the synergies that have been created between Nedbank and Bank of China Johannesburg as global alliance partners,” Van Kerckhoven said.

Bank of China Johannesburg CEO Zhikun Qiu echoed this, stating that the full value of the Sibanye refinance transaction was realised through the combination of global finance access and local industry insight made possible through the alliance between Nedbank and Bank of China Johannesburg.

“We are optimistic about the considerable potential that these types of relationships offer in terms of driving both organisational and economic development across the continent in years to come,” Qiu said.

Van Kerckhoven and Qiu further added that the well-established relationship between Nedbank, Bank of China Johannesburg and Sibanye was also integral to the completion of the transaction to the satisfaction of all parties.

“In our view, it is imperative for the sustainability of these large-value finance transactions that they are undertaken through a strong partnership-driven approach. Our relationship with Sibanye meant that we had clear insights regarding their vision and were able to structure their debt in a way that will give effect to their strategic objectives of paying an industry-leading dividend while helping to drive consolidation within the South African gold sector,” Van Kerckhoven and Qiu said.