JOHANNESBURG - Northam Platinum has received more than R400million in additional funding to boost its liquidity position amid the Covid-19 pandemic as part of the group’s R2.65billion restructuring of its domestic medium-term note programme (DMTN).
Chief executive Paul Dunne said yesterday that the restructuring of the DMTN programme would significantly help the company to preserve cash and strengthen its liquidity position during the ongoing pandemic.
“Northam is also pleased to have attracted more than R400m of additional new long-term funding during the lockdown period.
“We believe that the company is well placed to weather the ongoing Covid-19 challenges and we remain appreciative of the support of our investors,” Dunne said. Northam, which operates the Booysendal, Zondereinde, and Eland mines said that it had reached an agreement with additional note holders in a note switch to extend the maturity of certain domestic medium notes.
The JSE-listed precious metals producer said that it would extend the maturity date of domestic medium notes with an aggregate nominal amount of R350m. It said this would be done through the purchase and cancellation of notes and the simultaneous issue of new notes with longer-term maturities, for the same nominal amount and to the same note holders.
“Upon implementation, this will result in a total note switch of R2.235bn,” the company said.
Northam Platinum said that furthermore, certain note holders would provide new funding by subscribing for additional new notes with an aggregate amount of R130m, resulting in a total of R411m of new funding raised during the process.
“The additional note switch and the accompanying additional funding completes the restructuring of the maturities and fund-raising, which Northam has set out to achieve in order to preserve medium-term liquidity in the current global economic climate following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said the company.
It said that the new notes would
be issued as part of the additional
note switch, and would be placed as two new tranche series, whose expiry dates are May 11, 2025, and May 26, 2023. Earlier this month Northam Platinum announced that it had reached an agreement to extend the maturity dates of certain notes held in terms of the company’s R10bn DMTN programme.
Northam Platinum shares rose 2.99percent on the JSE yesterday to close at R99.94.