|
On Cautionary Announcement
VIKING INVESTMENTS & ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED
(Registration No. 1998/04440/06)
(Share code: VKG)
(ISIN Code: ZAE000015871)
("Viking" or "the Company")
UPDATE ON THE TRANSACTION WITH WESTCATS, ISSUE OF SHARES AND UPDATE ON
CAUTIONARY ANNOUNCEMENT
UPDATE ON THE TRANSACTION WITH WESTCATS
The directors of Viking are pleased to announce the following:
1. On 2nd October 2001 it was announced that a wholly owned subsidiary of
Viking incorporated in Delaware, USA, Viking Investments LLC ("Viking US"),
has finalised the establishment of Viking Platinum LLC ("Viplats"),
incorporated in Delaware, USA. Viplats has purchased certain assets of the
auto catalyst and platinum trading divisions of Westbury Alloys, Inc. a
subsidiary of Westbury Metals Group, Inc. ("Westbury") of Westbury, New
York. Viking US has a shareholding of 75% and Westbury holds the remaining
25%. The business to be conducted by Viplats involves the collecting and
processing of catalytic converters to reclaim platinum group metals
(including platinum, palladium and rhodium ("PGMs").
2. For its 75% stake, Viking US has paid US $1 000 000 and has arranged for
the provision of working capital to Viplats up to an amount of US $2 000
000, of which approximately US $1 250 000 is presently being utilised.
3. The approval of the South African Reserve Bank to fund the full amount of
the acquisition cost and working capital obligations from South African
sources has been obtained.
4. The result of the new venture, which came into effect on 3 December 2001,
on the value of the net assets acquired by Viplats, was immaterial and the
effect on the net asset value per share of Viking will be negligible.
Attributable sales for the month of December amount to approximately R20m.
5. For the financial year of Viking ending on 31 December 2001 the net
profits attributable to Viplats after providing for taxation and outside
shareholders' interests will not be material due to the short period for
which the investment has been held and the once-off transaction costs which
have been incurred. However, the directors are of the opinion that the
acquisition will have a material positive effect on future profits of the
Company.
6. The Westcats transaction combines the financial resources and derivative
expertise of Viking with the expertise of Westbury in the field of
purchasing catalytic converters and processing of PGMs from these converters
to extract platinum, palladium and rhodium. Westbury has provided the
operational management to Viplats.
7. Viking regards the finalisation of this transaction as an important shift
in its strategy in terms of which it will now focus on acquiring hard
currency based investments generating significant cash revenues. As part of
this shift in strategy, Viking intends to wind down its traditional business
of asset management and private equity investment in South African based
companies. Pursuant to this Viking intends to make application to the JSE
Securities Exchange ("JSE") to move its listing from the Venture Capital
section of the JSE list to the Main Board.
ISSUE OF SHARES FOR CASH
8. In order to raise funds for the purpose of completing the Westcats
transaction and pursuant to the general authority to issue shares approved
by shareholders on 31 August 2001 and a board resolution passed on 17
September 2001, the directors have allotted and issued 13 246 086 new
ordinary shares in Viking at an issue price of 103.5 cents per share. This
represents a discount of 10% per share of the weighted average price of
Viking's shares over the 30-day period prior to the date of the board
resolution. Viking has made application for the listing of these new shares
and it is anticipated that these will be listed on the 25th February 2002.
This issue of shares represents an increase of 13.25% in the issued share
capital of the Company and will have the following effects :
8.1 The unaudited published net asset value per share as at 30 June 2001
would have increased by 37% on the assumption that the issue of shares for
cash had been effected on 30 June 2001.
8.2 The unaudited published earnings per share for the six months ended 30
June 2001 would have decreased by 11,5% on the assumption that the shares
were issued on 1 January 2001, and ignoring the effects of new investments
and interest on the proceeds of the issue.
UPDATE ON CAUTIONARY ANNOUNCEMENT
9. Further to the cautionary announcement issued on 18 December 2001 and 29
January 2002 the directors of Viking advise that Viking, through Viking US,
is engaged in negotiations to purchase another US based business involved in
the processing of PGMs and other precious metals. This will require South
African Reserve Bank approval. Viking expects to finalise the negotiations
regarding this acquisition within the first quarter of 2002 and shareholders
are advised to continue to exercise caution in their dealing in Viking
shares. Further announcements will be made as the negotiations progress.
L R C COOGAN
Chief Executive Officer
Johannesburg
20 February 2002
Sponsor
PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance (Pty) Ltd
| Profile Group (Pty) Ltd. has taken care in preparing all information on this website, but does not accept any liability for errors or out-of-date information. | |||||||||||||
| Other Profile Group sites: FundsData Online (unit trust data) | Profile Group corporate site | |||||||||||||
| [ Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | PAIA manual | FAQs/Help | Site Map | © Copyright Reserved 2026 ] | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
