Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd (Implats) has announced it has entered an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Canada’s platinum group metal miner North American Palladium Limited (NAP).
NAP’s majority shareholder, Brookfield Business Partners LP, holding 81%, has been offered C$16 per share, whilstminority shareholders will receive C$19.74 per share. This values the deal at C$1 008 million or US$758 million.
Implats has said it will finance the deal using cash and a bridge loan facility.
The price in part reflects the surge in palladium prices in recent months. Since August 2018 palladium prices have doubled.
The acquisition will add the first North American asset to Implat’s portfolio. NAPs wholly owned and operated Lac de Iles palladium mine to Impala’s existing assets on the Western and Eastern limbs of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, on the north and south of the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe. Lac de Iles is located northwest of Thunder Bay Ontario, and currently employs 700 people. It is one of Canada’s largest and lowest cost underground metal mines. NAP also has a shareholding in two exploration properties, the Sunday Lake project and the Shebandowan Joint Venture.
About NAP
NAP is a Canadian company with 25 years of production at the Lac des Iles Mine in a low-risk jurisdiction northwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario. North American Palladium is the world’s only pure play palladium producer. With over 700 employees, the Lac des Iles Mine features a unique, world-class ore body and modern infrastructure, including both an underground mine and surface operations.
Find out more at https://www.nap.com/
About Implats
Impala is one of the world’s foremost producers of platinum and associated platinum group metals. Impala is currently structured around five main operations with a total of 20 underground shafts. Its operations are located within the Bushveld Complex in South Africa and the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe, the two most significant platinum group metal bearing ore bodies in the world.
Find out more at http://www.implats.co.za/index.php
