May 12 (Reuters) – Miner AngloGold Ashanti (ANGJ.J) will move its primary listing from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) to New York to access a larger pool of capital and mitigate the risks associated with South Africa to reduce, it said on Friday.
The prospector has shifted its focus to more lucrative mines in Ghana, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as Australia and America, as mining in South Africa becomes more difficult and costly due to geological challenges posed by the mining of some of the world’s deepest gold deposits.
AngloGold, whose predecessor was founded a century ago by industrialist Ernest Oppenhemmer, completed the sale of its South African mines in 2020. The company is also moving its headquarters to the United Kingdom, but retaining the South African office.
“There are strategic reasons why we did this. By far the largest pool of gold capital is in the US and it was clear that a secondary listing with South Africa limited access to that pool of capital,” CEO Alberto Calderon told Reuters in an interview.
He added that two-thirds of AngloGold’s share volumes were already traded in New York, where the company has certificates listed.
Calderon said rating agencies have pegged AngloGold’s credit rating to that of South Africa, which is facing severe blackouts that are souring investor sentiment in Africa’s most industrialized economy.
“We have outgrown South Africa,” Calderon said, adding that a primary listing in the United States was aligned with the development of four greenfield projects in Nevada, which will see annual production of AngloGold reach nearly 3 million ounces.
The plan to move AngloGold’s primary listing will be put to a vote of shareholders and requires at least 75% investor support, Calderon said on a conference call.
He again ruled out AngloGold pursuing mergers and acquisitions, saying most gold mergers in the recent past have failed to create value.
“It’s not impossible, it’s about really understanding what the synergies are and how you can add value to shareholders. What you can’t get carried away with is… thinking bigger is better,” he said.
Calderon said Newmont Corporation’s (NEM.N) $20 billion bid to acquire Australia’s Newcrest Mining (NCM.AX) was likely to succeed.
“I think the deal between Newmont and Newcrest is an interesting one. It’s going ahead, Newmont has to do it. Sustaining a 6 million ounce operation is extremely difficult. I think this will help them do that,” he said.
($1 = 18.3161 rand)
Reporting by Nelson Banya Edited by Jacqueline Wong and David Goodman