Investors at Sibanye Gold (JSE:SGL) (NYSE:SBGL), South Africa’s largest miner producer of the precious metal, have given the firm their thumbs up to proceed with the $2.2 billion acquisition of Stillwater Mining (NYSE:SWC), the only US platinum producer.
Cash takeover will make of Sibanye the world’s third largest palladium producer and fourth biggest platinum group metals miner.
The cash takeover, first announced in December, will increase South Africa’s grip over global platinum and palladium supply and underline chief executive Neal Froneman’s determination to branch out of gold mining and the firm’s home country.
Froneman thanked shareholders for supporting what he described as a “unique and transformative opportunity to acquire world class, low-cost international PGM assets”.
The Johannesburg-listed company, which was spun out of South Africa’s Gold Fields in 2013, spent most of last year shopping for new mines, particularly in the platinum sector.
The company first expanded into the grey precious metal used in jewellery and diesel car engines in Sep. 2015, by buying Aquarius Platinum and three Anglo American Platinum mines.
Together with reducing Sibanye’s dependence on its aging South African mines, the deal will make the company the world’s third largest palladium producer and fourth biggest platinum group metals miner, Froneman said in December when announcing the planned acquisition.
Once completed, the deal will be the second-biggest South African outbound M&A transaction since 2015.
