By Felix Njini and Clara Denina
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Anglo American Platinum is seeing a high level of investor interest in the business as it prepares to spin off as an independent entity from its parent Anglo American, Amplats CEO Craig Miller said on Wednesday.
The spinoff is part of the group’s restructuring strategy, aimed at fighting off a $49 billion takeover bid from bigger rival BHP to focus on more profitable copper and iron ore assets.
Amplats is due to be separated by mid-year, which will also result in the company changing its name, Miller said, without giving details.
With a secondary listing in London, Amplats will be the only PGMs (Platinum Group Metals) producer on the bourse, possibly appealing to new investors, he added.
“There is a lot of interest in that (the standalone business),” Miller told Reuters on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba conference in Cape town.
“(London) is a lot easier… It might just be more attractive for certain fund managers to invest via the London Stock Exchange.”
Prices of the white metals used primarily in autocatalysts have slid in the past two years, with demand hit by the rise of battery electric vehicles, which don’t require them.
As part of its strategic overhaul, Anglo American sold its coal assets and is in the process of selling its nickel business in Brazil. It also plans to divest its De Beers diamond unit.
South Africa’s platinum miners, among the country’s largest foreign currency earners, employ around 170,000 workers, but the industry has cut production and shed thousands of jobs in response to lower demand.
Amplats, the biggest platinum miner by value, said recent dialled-down demand for electric vehicles could help boost interest in the metal.
“There is a lot of interest in PGMs because of the role they play in transportation, be that in hybrids, and potentially in the future, in the next decade, around hydrogen,” Miller said.
He added that lack of investment into new platinum mines could limit supply, lending support to prices.
“There’s no significant new supply of PGMs coming to the market,” Miller said.
(Reporting by Felix Njini and Clara Denina in Cape Town; Editing by Veronica Brown and Elaine Hardcastle)
