Johannesburg - Anglo American [JSE:AGL] on Friday said it
had received consent from the Minister of Mineral Resources‚ under Section 11
of the South African Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 2002‚ to
acquire the Oppenheimer family’s 40% stake in De Beers.
The Section 11 consent is the final approval required for
this transaction to proceed.
“Now that all the conditions to the transaction have been
satisfied‚ a formal pre-emption offer will be served by CHL Holdings Limited on
Anglo American and the government of Botswana under the terms of the De Beers
shareholders’ agreement‚” said the mining group.
Botswana has a pre-emption right that allows for the
government to participate in the transaction and increase its interest in De
Beers by up to 25%.
Anglo American announced in November 2011 that it had
entered into an agreement with the Oppenheimer family to acquire its shares in
De Beers. This agreement would enable the mining giant to increase its 45%
shareholding in the world’s leading diamond company to up to 85%‚ for a total cash
consideration of $5.1bn.
However‚ in the event that the government of Botswana
exercises its pre-emption rights in full‚ Anglo American will acquire a 30%
interest in De Beers‚ taking its total interest in the diamond miner to 75%.
Anglo American expects the transaction to close in the
second half of 2012.