Sibanye deal under US scrutiny

The committee on foreign investment in the US would extend its scrutiny of a $2.2bn takeover by Sibanye Gold of the only US miner of platinum and palladium — Stillwater Mining — Sibanye said on Friday. It said this is the normal process.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US would extend its scrutiny of a $2.2bn takeover by Sibanye Gold of the only US miner of platinum and palladium, Stillwater Mining, Sibanye said on Friday.

The committee, which examines deals for potential US national security concerns, extended the deadline for its review from February 28 to April 14 2017.

The company said that the extension was part of the normal process.

“It’s fairly complicated; it’s a South African company with a large Chinese shareholding so they have just asked for an extension so they can do further investigations,” said Sibanye spokesman James Wellsted.

Gold One SA, which is majority-owned by a Chinese consortium, holds a 19.96% share in Sibanye.

The transaction, which would strengthen CEO Neal Froneman’s determination to diversify out of gold mining and SA, remained on schedule for closure during the second calendar quarter of 2017, Sibanye said. The company did not detail any regulatory hurdles, saying only that the deal, which is backed by Stillwater’s board, was conditional on receiving the required authorisation.

Sibanye said in February that it had secured a loan of $2.65bn to support the acquisition, after it closed the syndication of the bridging loan underwritten by Citi and HSBC, to acquire all the outstanding common stock of Stillwater Mining for $18 per share in cash. If successful, the deal will make Sibanye the world’s third-largest palladium producer and fourth-largest platinum group metals miner.

Shares in Sibanye fell 3.04% to close at R25.16 on Friday in Johannesburg.