Pallinghurst CEO Arne Frandsen
Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Owning 100% of Gemfields will allow diversified mining company Pallinghurst to revitalise the coloured gemstones mining and marketing entity and to unlock synergies, Pallinghurst CEO Arne Frandsen said on Wednesday, when the London Stock Exchange aspirant commenced its compulsory take-up of the remaining 7.62 % minority shareholding.
“This will in turn strengthen and improve Gemfields' operational and financial position,” Frandsen added in a release to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Pallinghurst has secured an overwhelming 92.38% acceptance for the acquisition and will be seeking further investment in the operations to secure profitable expansion and growth for Gemfields, the shareholders of which will receive 1.91 Pallinghurst shares for each Gemfields share.
Following its restructuring and the acquisition of the emerald and ruby mining company, Pallinghurst will begin preparatory work to obtain a listing on the London Stock Exchange and Gemfields will delist from London’s Aim by month end.
Pallinghurst has been a long-term and supportive investor in Gemfields, with the group’s Kagem emerald mine in northern Zambia producing nearly a quarter of the world’s emeralds and its Montepuez ruby mine in northern Mozambique on one of the world’s most significant recently discovered ruby deposits.
Pallinghurst’s share price leapt in Johannesburg in May after the company outlined its plans to take Gemfields in-house and convert itself into an operational diversified mining company.
Pallinghurst believes that the integration of Gemfields will enable it to perform to full potential, materially improve trading liquidity and promote a re-rating of the enlarged group.