Gold Fields pulling out all stops to thwart Harmon
Gold Fields pulling out all stops to thwart Harmony
November 22, 2004
Johannesburg - Gold Fields offered to buy Norilsk Nickel`s 20 percent stake in it for about $2 billion (R12 billion) to thwart the hostile takeover by Harmony, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported, citing an unidentified executive.
Gold Fields would use cash raised by selling its $3.5 billion in mining assets outside South Africa to buy Norilsk`s holding, hoping to reverse Norilsk`s support for Harmony`s all-share offer.
The sale of international assets would proceed if Gold Fields shareholders rejected the company`s $2.1 billion purchase of Iamgold on December 7.
`I do not want to comment on speculation of this nature,` said Gold Fields spokesperson Willie Jacobsz at the weekend.
Gold Fields might sell assets and return the cash to shareholders to get them to vote against Harmony`s R50 billion bid, he said.
The Observer newspaper, citing unidentified people, reported that Gold Fields might seek a counterbid from Newmont Mining to thwart the hostile takeover.
Gold Fields advisers at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase were considering the defence plan alongside another to sell global businesses worth $3.5 billion to bidders such as Placer Dome and Sual Group.
`We are examining all available options to unlock shareholder value,` said Colin Coleman, the managing director at Goldman Sachs in South Africa. John Coulter, the chief executive of JPMorgan`s South African unit, declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Harmony yesterday again urged Gold Fields` shareholders to accept its offer for Gold Fields` entire share capital.
This was after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had declared the registration statement on Form F4, with respect to the Harmony consideration shares to be issued pursuant to the US offer for Gold Fields, effective.
Harmony said it had to remove several pages from its F4 filing with the commission.
Gold Fields had `continued to refuse to release its 2004 financial statements to Harmony`.
Late on Friday evening, the SEC granted the registration of the Form F4 without the pages.
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