Anglo Raises $400M in First South African Amplats Stake Sale

AFRICAN STOCKS AND FINANCESeptember 11, 2024 at 1:58 PM UTC

TLDR

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) shares drop sharply after parent company Anglo American Plc sells 13.94 million discounted shares at 20% below average price.
Sale raises 7.2 billion rand ($403 million) for Anglo; shares of Amplats fell by 9.2% in Johannesburg trading, the largest decline since April.
Analysts suggest sale of 5.3% of Amplats' total issued shares could reveal potential value loss during Anglo's restructuring.

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) shares fell sharply after parent company Anglo American Plc sold 13.94 million discounted shares, signaling the start of a phased exit from its controlling stake in the South African firm.

Anglo raised 7.2 billion rand ($403 million) by selling the shares at 515 rand apiece, about 20% below Amplats’ 30-day average price. The shares dropped 9.2% in Johannesburg trading, marking their biggest decline since April.

The sale represents about 5.3% of Amplats' total issued shares, and analysts from Bloomberg Intelligence noted it might indicate the extent of potential value leakage during Anglo’s restructuring.

Key Takeaways

The move follows Anglo’s announcement in May to exit its majority interest in Amplats as part of a broader restructuring plan. The plan emerged after Anglo rebuffed a $49 billion takeover proposal from BHP Group, partly due to the complexity of separating Amplats and Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. before a potential deal. The sale reduces the number of Amplats shares to be distributed among Anglo shareholders, potentially limiting the impact of investor flow back from the restructuring.

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