AUSTRALIAN miner Aquarius Platinum and South Africa’s Kroondal Platinum indicated they intended to merge their firms to create a company worth $304m. A joint statement said the two firms had reached a merger deal which would be financed by Aquarius offering 100 of its shares from a newly-listed subsidiary on the Johannesburg bourse for every 100 Kroondal shares. Shares in Kroondal see-sawed on the all-paper offer, falling as much as 7.5 percent from the previous close after rallying over 9 percent ahead of the announcement. Aquarius is expected to use the strong cash flow from Kroondal to finance mine projects in South Africa, including the development of the Marikana and Everest South new platinum mine projects. Kroondal, which was originally fully owned by Aquarius, recommended its shareholders accept the bid from Aquarius for the 57 percent of Kroondal which it did not already own. ”We expect the two companies to be brought together and be worth 200m. It’s a great deal,” Kroondal managing director Dave Evans said. – Reuters