JSE-listed platinum miner Northam has announced that, pursuant to the implementation of the Zambezi Scheme as of August 23, it now holds all of the Zambezi preference shares in issue.

The delisting of the Zambezi shares is expected to occur on August 24.

The finalisation in respect of the extended black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction is expected to be confirmed on or about September 3.

CEO Paul Dunne says Northam’s acquisition of the remaining Zambezi preference shares will have an immediate positive impact on earnings a share and represents the final step in Northam’s Zambezi preference share acquisition strategy, which is a key element of the company’s broader strategy to return value to shareholders.

“We are excited to have achieved this significant milestone and look forward to implementing the remainder of the transaction steps to finalise a very significant share buyback.”

The platinum group metals miner on July 20 gained approval from shareholders for the merger. 

This follows on the early maturity of the Zambezi BEE transaction and the implementation of an extended BEE transaction.

Northam proposed to accelerate the maturity and wind-up of the Zambezi BEE transaction, including the acquisition by Northam of all the shares in issue which are not already held by the miner.

The transaction was implemented by way of the Zambezi scheme and the subsequent delisting of shares from the main board of the JSE.

Additionally, Northam proposed a 15-year extension of the BEE transaction, including Northam Holdings’ proposed acquisition of all of the Northam shares in issue (excluding treasury shares), in exchange for the Northam scheme consideration, to be implemented by way of the Northam scheme, and the resultant delisting of all Northam shares on the main board of the JSE and listing of all Northam Holdings shares on the main board of the JSE.

Northam also intends to launch a transaction to restore ownership by historically disadvantaged persons in Northam to up to 26.5%, with an emphasis on participation by Northam group employees, as well as host and affected communities.

Apart from functioning as an empowerment vehicle, Zambezi did not conduct any business operations and Zambezi’s assets comprise Northam shares.