Johannesburg - Eastern Platinum is the second producer of the metal to have a Chinese deal collapse, with the major shareholder of a buyer baulking at delays in concluding a $225 million (R3.2 billion) deal.
The two-phase cash purchase of all of JSE-and TSX-listed Eastplats by Hebei Zhongbo Platinum “could not proceed” because Beijing Hehe Fengye Investments, a major shareholder in the Chinese company, opposed the deal, Eastplats said yesterday.
Beijing Hehe said last month it had withdrawn its support because the deal had not been completed by its August deadline. This is the second platinum transaction with a Chinese company to fail.
Aquarius Platinum’s efforts to sell its mothballed Blue Ridge and Sheba’s Ridge mines to a Chinese consortium for $37m ended in October last year.
Regulatory delays forced the deal’s deadline extension nine times and the Chinese lost patience.
BUSINESS REPORT