MONDAY, 10.30AM
The much-touted possibility of a merger between local mining house Johannesburg Consolidated Investments and multinational Lonrho was toned down a few notches on Monday by Lonrho CEO Nick Morrell’s announcement that talks on a possible merger are at a “preliminary stage”, despite market speculation that the a deal was imminent.
Presenting the group’s half-year results in London, Morrell pointedly described Lonrho’s stake in Ghanaian Ashanti gold mines as an important asset, adding “we have no plans at this stage to divest it”.
The comment sparked a negative outlook on the possibility of a deal, as it was believed that the sale of Ashanti to Anglo American was essential to any deal with JCI. Anglo, which last year increased its holding in Lonrho to 28%, was forced by the European Union to cut back its stake to no more than 10%.
JCI, meanwhile, said it is still committed to a deal, but the complexity of any merger was becoming apparent. The company added that it is still committed to closing a deal as soon as possible.