Palabora Mining to be sold for R3,95bn

Copper mining company Palabora Mining on Friday (28 December) announced a number of conditions for the completion of the sale of a 74.5% share in the company to a consortium of South African and Chinese firms.

State-owned financier the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Chinese entity Hebei lead the consortium in the R3.95bn bid for the stake in Palabora. Hebei will own 35% and privately owned Chinese trading group General Nice Development will have a 25%‚ along with the Chinese state-owned diversified Tewoo Group that will hold 20%. The remaining 20% of the shares will be held by the IDC.

Rio Tinto and Anglo American are both selling their stakes in the copper miner. The sale is subject to a number of conditions including approval by the competition authorities, exchange control approval and sanction from several Chinese government agencies.

There must also be no material deterioration in Palabora's operational and financial performance while the approvals are sought. The company says it will take between four and six months to finalise the sale.

The company said that any offer to the remaining minority shareholders would be made once the sale of the 74,5% share held by Rio Tinto and Anglo American has been completed.