Impala Platinum releases mandatory offer for Royal Bafokeng Platinum

Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlats) shareholders received a circular for the mandatory offer from Impala Platinum (Implats). The bid price is R150 per share based on the Implats share price when the deal was first publicized. The proposed structure is R90 in cash and 0.3 Implats shares for each RBPlats share, an implied price of R157. RBPlats closed at R160 per share yesterday, slightly higher than the implied Implats offer price.

As a cue, Northam Platinum paid R180 per share to get Royal Bafokeng Holdings off the RBPlats shareholder register. The market was humming with speculation in December that Northam might launch its own offer at that price.

At present, no such offer has been made and the RBPlats board has confirmed that no further update has been received from Northam. To add a little drama, the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) is currently investigating whether Northam should be required to make a mandatory offer to shareholders.

Next, the board of RBPlats will post a response circular to the Implats circular within 20 business days. This will include the opinion of the independent expert (PSG) and the independent board’s view on the offer by Implats.