Gold miner Gold Fields (GFI) on Thursday announced the creation of a new South African gold mining company through the proposed unbundling of its 100% owned subsidiary‚ Sibanye Gold - formerly known as GFI Mining South Africa Proprietary Limited (GFIMSA) - which holds the KDC and Beatrix gold mines as well as various service companies.
Subject to approval by the JSE and the NYSE‚ Sibanye Gold will be listed as a separate and independent company on both exchanges in February 2013‚ it said.
Sibanye Gold shares will then be distributed to existing Gold Fields shareholders.
Both Gold Fields and Sibanye Gold will be domiciled in SA with their primary listing of shares on the JSE and a secondary listing of American depository receipts on the NYSE. The other existing secondary listings on the Swiss‚ Dubai and Brussels stock exchanges for Gold Fields will remain unchanged.
Following the unbundling‚ Gold Fields will retain the balance of its current portfolio of assets‚ including the developing South Deep Gold Mine located in South Africa
Neal Froneman‚ currently Chief Executive Officer of Gold One‚ will become CEO of Sibanye Gold and Charl Keyter‚ currently Head of Finance for Gold Fields´ international operations‚ will become the Chief Financial Officer.
The separation of Gold Fields and Sibanye Gold will enable the two independently governed and managed companies to focus on their respective strategic goals and to operate more effectively as separate entities‚ to the benefit of shareholders‚ employees and communities‚ the company said.
Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland said: “While some parts of the GFIMSA operations have been in production for as long as 70 years‚ these assets still have inherent quality and extensive resource and reserve potential. The separation will liberate Sibanye Gold into a fit-for-purpose‚ sustainable gold mining company best positioned to maximise long-term value for stakeholders.
“By unbundling the cash-generative KDC and Beatrix mines into Sibanye Gold‚ its cash flows can be utilised to extend the life of the mines and improve dividend payouts to shareholders. The first priority‚ however‚ will be to achieve stable and safe production‚” said Holland.
Froneman added that the company will be committed to maintaining profitable‚ stable and low cost operations that provide a high degree of leverage to the gold price.
“We will selectively pursue synergistic opportunities for consolidation in the South African gold industry and‚ as a separately listed entity‚ will be able to fully utilise our free cash flows for the benefit of the Company and its stakeholders‚” he said.
There will be no job losses directly as a result of the creation and unbundling of Sibanye Gold. In addition all conditions of employment will remain unchanged. - I-Net Bridge