Platinum producer Angloplat announced a 35 billion rand (€3.54 billion) empowerment deal today to sell mines to two black-led companies and distribute shares to its mostly black workers.
It is one of South Africa's biggest black empowerment deals and will result in Anooraq Resources and Mvela Resources controlling the third- and fifth-largest deposits in South Africa's platinum group metals sector, respectively.
The news sent shares surging, with Anooraq's shares in Johannesburg jumping by 4.6 per cent to 25 rand and Mvela's climbing 3.4 per cent to 58 rand earlier this morning. Angloplat rose 1 per cent to 984 rand.
The deals and the share plan will put around 35 billion rand of Angloplat's assets under black control, it added.
While the sale price of the mines and the value of shares to be distributed are 10.9 billion rand, Angloplat said the deals will result in blacks owning a much larger amount of platinum assets.
South Africa's Anglo Platinum accounts for around 40 per cent of global platinum production.