Anglo American raises $530 million from Amplats stake sale
Anglo American Plc raised 9.6 billion rand ($530 million) from selling a 6.6% stake in Anglo American Platinum Ltd., a move aimed at increasing the South African unit’s free float ahead of a full exit.
The mining company sold 17.5 million shares in its platinum-group metals subsidiary for 548 rand apiece, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The number of publicly traded Amplats shares has increased by more than 50% since September, when Anglo completed a smaller selldown.
Anglo announced plans to exit its controlling stake in Johannesburg-listed Amplats in May. It’s part of a wider restructuring program that was unveiled in response to an unsolicited $49 billion takeover proposal by BHP Group.
Amplats shares fell as much as 6.3%, before trading down 3.2% as of 11:38 a.m. in Johannesburg. Anglo gained 2.8% in London.
Anglo, which now owns almost 67% of Amplats, said the demerger is on track to be finalized by mid-2025. The company said it doesn’t intend to sell down its Amplats stake further before the planned split.
Anglo earlier this week announced an agreement to sell its coal business in a deal that could be valued at as much as $3.78 billion. The group also plans to exit nickel mining and divest or spin off its De Beers diamond unit.
Amplats and its peers in South Africa – by far the world’s largest producer of platinum – have been battling a prolonged period of weak prices that’s slashed profits and forced cost-cutting. In the longer term, the firms are focused on finding alternative sources of consumption to replace dwindling demand from the auto sector, which uses PGMs to curb emissions in gasoline and diesel vehicles.