AngloGold Ashanti announced today that it has signed a binding agreement to sell its entire interest in AngloGold Ashanti Namibia Limited (AGAN), a wholly owned subsidiary which owns the Navachab Gold Mine (Navachab), to a wholly-owned subsidiary of QKR Corporation Limited (QKR).
The agreement provides for an upfront consideration based on an enterprise value of US$110 million which will be adjusted to take into account AGAN’s net debt and working capital position on the closing date of the Transaction. The upfront consideration is payable in cash on the Closing Date. In addition, AngloGold Ashanti will receive deferred consideration in the form of a net smelter return (NSR). The NSR is to be paid quarterly for a period of seven years following the second anniversary of the Closing Date and will be determined at 2% of ounces sold by Navachab during a relevant quarter subject to an average gold price of US$1,350 per ounce being achieved and capped at 18,750 ounces sold per quarter.
The Transaction is subject to fulfilment of a number of conditions precedent, including Namibian and South African regulatory and third party approvals, which are expected to be obtained over the next several months.
“We are executing on our strategy to focus our efforts on assets of scale that drive value in the business,” said Charles Carter, AngloGold Ashanti’s Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. “We’re pleased to have reached agreement to sell Navachab for fair value in the midst of a difficult market – we believe that QKR is the right group to take Navachab forward.”
Lloyd Pengilly, President of QKR, noted that “Navachab is QKR's first acquisition and is the result of an extensive review process. We believe Navachab has significant potential and we look forward to working closely with the management, staff and contractors of Navachab, the Government of Namibia and Epangelo to steer the mine through its next phase of growth.”
AngloGold Ashanti will continue to operate Navachab until the closing of the Transaction.
