JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The bulk of shareholders of the Palabora Mining Company (PMC) have accepted a share purchase offer by a consortium represented by Rio Tinto South Africa (RTSA), which has resulted in RTSA now holding 96.9% of the copper producer’s share capital.
The consortium, comprising South African and Chinese entities – the Industrial Development Corporation, Hebei Iron & Steel (HBIS), Tewoo, General Nice and the China-Africa Development Fund – on Friday said it had received acceptances from holders in respect of 10.8-million offer shares, equating to 87.7% of the ordinary shares in PMC.
Remaining shareholders were advised in a statement that the takeover regulation panel had granted a further extension of the closing date of the offer from November 29 to December 13.
Other than the revision of the timelines, all other terms of the offer remained unchanged.
Palabora said it was understood that minority shareholders were to be offered R110 a share, plus an additional R5.95 a share, being a noncompounding escalation amount of 5% a year calculated from July 1, 2012, to July 31, 2013.