Optimum and Koornfontein coal mines up for grabs

Any bidders must disclose links with the Gupta family

● Optimum coal mine, together with Optimum coal terminal and the independent Koornfontein mines in Mpumalanga, are for sale.

The companies began business rescue in February 2018.

The closing date of the structured sales is June 18.

The sales encompass all the mine assets along with the allocation at the Richards Bay coal terminal. The sale of the coal-terminal allocation will depend on the identity of the most responsive bidder.

The business rescue practitioners and the major creditors have set a sales deadline.

“A line has been drawn in the sand and the time is now for interested parties to submit their offers through a widely advertised and equitable process,” said John Taylor of GoIndustry DoveBid.

The business rescue practitioners, in consultation with major creditors, appointed GoIndustry DoveBid and Park Village Auctions to facilitate the sales.

Offers to purchase, coupled with an immediate post-commencement finance facility, are awaited for the mining assets. Proposals should reach the sales team by June 5.

Before acceptance, interested parties will need to engage the creditors holding the larger voting interests. These will be disclosed to vetted bidders once the most responsive bidders are considered.

Optimum Coal Mine (Pty) Ltd, Optimum Coal Terminal (Pty) Ltd and Koornfontein Mines (Pty) Ltd are owned by entities linked to the Gupta family.

The mines went into business rescue following the sudden disinvestment by the Guptas when state-capture revelations surfaced in 2015.

Because of the previous links to the Guptas, all interested parties will be required to provide affidavits disclosing any past dealings with the Oakbay Group of companies or its directors or shareholders, or any links with politically exposed persons.

Optimum coal mine’s assets include an open-cast strip and underground sections, eight draglines, two processing plants, a railway siding, a rapid load-out facility and a water-reclamation plant that produces 15Ml a day.

Operations are said to be able to extend well beyond 2030.

Optimum’s coal terminal, a shareholder within the Richards Bay coal terminal, includes a 6.5Mt annual coal export entitlement.

Koornfontein is a shareholder in the Richards Bay coal terminal. It also holds a 1.5Mt annual coal-export entitlement.

The sale combines the underground operations, three processing plants, two railway sidings and a rapid load-out facility. As with Optimum coal mine, the life expectancy of Koornfontein stretches beyond 2030.

Optimum and Koornfontein were a focus of former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report. It showed how Eskom, SA’s largest stateowned company, essentially forced Glencore to sell the operation in 2016.

Glencore is a British-Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company.

For more information, contact Taylor on 082-416-3883, or at john.taylor@liquidityservices.com or www.go-dove.com/southafrica or Park Village Auctions on 011- 789-4375 or www.parkvillageauctions.co.za