Platinum mining company Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) last week announced the closure of a bookbuild that would result in the private placing of R239-million worth of shares that was scheduled to begin on October 2.

RBPlat announced the launch of the accelerated bookbuild offering of new ordinary shares by way of a private placement to qualifying institutional investors in September.

The fully placed bookbuild involves the sale of 9 791 823 new ordinary shares at a price of R24.50 a share, representing 5% of RBPlat’s issued share capital prior to the placing.

The placing price represents a discount of 1.4% to the 30-day volume weighted average traded price of RBPlat ordinary shares for the 30-trading-day period ended September 26 and a discount of 13.8% to the closing price of RBPlat on September 26.

The company planned to apply for admission of the placing shares to trade on the main board of the JSE from the morning of October 2.

In August, Rand Merchant Bank agreed to increase the existing debt facilities of Royal Bafokeng Resources, an RBPlat subsidiary, from R2-billion to R3-billion, following an agreement to acquire Rustenburg Platinum Mines’ 33% interest in the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine joint venture for R1.86-billion, giving it 100% of the mine.

In April, the Department of Mineral Resources approved the transfer from TSX-listed Platinum Group Metals (PTM) of the entire issued share capital of Maseve Investments 11, the holding company of the Maseve mine, in Rustenburg, to RBPlat. Maseve borders RBPlat’s Styldrift I project and provides RBPlat with immediate access to an operational concentrator to treat Styldrift I ore, as well as early access to its Frischgewaagd orebody at the Styldrift mine.

Earlier last week, Wesizwe Platinum subsidiary Africa Wide Mineral Prospecting & Exploration instituted legal action against PTM’s wholly owned South African subsidiary, as well as RBPlat, seeking to have the Maseve transaction declared unlawful. The Maseve transaction involves PTM’s sale of Maseve Investments, in which RBPlat and its subsidiary acquired the concentrator plant and related surface assets owned by Maseve for about $58-million, as well as 100% of the shares in and shareholder claims owing by Maseve for about $12-million.