By Joe Hoppe
AngloGold Ashanti said Friday that it intends to move its primary listing to New York alongside a corporate restructuring, and backed its full-year guidance.
The South African gold miner said it has undertaken a comprehensive review of its domicile and listing structure and concluded the most appropriate structure is a U.K. corporate domicile, with a U.S. primary listing and second listings in South Africa and Ghana. It also expects to delist from the Australian stock exchange on June 27.
A primary listing in the U.S. will enhance access to pools of capital, including the opportunity to improve share liquidity. In time, a U.S. primary listing is expected to facilitate greater stock performance and bring share value comparable to more liquid, higher valued North American peers, AngloGold said.
The restructuring will utilize a corporate domicile in the U.K., to be renamed AngloGold Ashanti PLC, which will ultimately hold all of the company’s operations outside of Africa. The company said the U.K. was a well proven, low-risk and attractive jurisdiction for the group, and will minimize incremental costs to shareholders.
The total costs of the proposed transaction are estimated to be around 5% of the prevailing market capitalization of the company, comprising primarily taxes payable in South Africa. This implies a cost of around $571.5 million, based upon its market capitalization at 0539 GMT of $11.43 billion, though the actual number will depend on factors including company market value and foreign exchange rates.
“This is a logical progression for AngloGold Ashanti, which is well aligned with the evolution of the business in recent years and will assist in unlocking value in a way that’s minimally disruptive for our stakeholders,” Chairperson Maria Ramos said.
The mining company also said first quarter gold production was 584,000 ounces. Total cash costs rose to $1,204 an ounce from $1,041, mainly driven by continued inflation and input price increases, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell to $320 million from $438 million a year prior it said.
AngloGold reaffirmed full-year guidance of 2.45 million-2.61 million ounces, with all-in sustaining cost guidance of $1,405-$1,450 an ounce. It said production and costs are expected to improve over the second half of the year.
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