Harmony on Tuesday welcomed the rejection by Gold Fields’ shareholders of the mine’s proposed merger with Canada’s Iamgold and urged Gold Fields’ management to accept Harmony’s merger proposal.
“Harmony welcomes the rejection by Gold Fields shareholders of the resolutions proposed in relation to the now defeated Iamgold transaction.
“This was achieved despite the attempt by Gold Fields’ management to force through the Iamgold resolutions by:
Failing to honour the provisions of Gold Fields’ contract with its depository bank, the Bank of New York, to give notice of the substantial opposition to the proposed Iamgold transaction; and
Refusing to recognise Harmony’s holding of approximately 11,8% in Gold Fields.
“Harmony considers that this result represents a decisive rejection of the corporate strategy that Gold Fields’ management has put before its shareholders and is therefore an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Gold Fields’ management,” Harmony said in its response to the news that Gold Fields had failed to garner sufficient support for the Iamgold deal.
“Harmony believes that Gold Fields’ management should now abandon its ill-conceived defence, which has been focused on a series of expensive legal challenges to Harmony’s offers aimed solely at removing Gold Fields shareholders’ ability to decide on the merits of Harmony’s offers for themselves.
“Harmony urges Gold Fields’ management to enter into discussions aimed at reaching agreement on the terms of a recommended merger between Harmony and Gold Fields,” Harmony added.
Commenting on the rejection by Gold Fields’ shareholders of the Iamgold deal, Harmony CE Bernard Swanepoel said: “Gold Fields shareholders have now spoken. With this behind us, we now look forward to engaging with Gold Fields’ management to agree the terms of a recommended merger of our two companies.
“This will remove the uncertainty currently in the market, allowing our shares to return to their true underlying value and will create the world’s premier gold-mining company, a must-have investment for gold and non-gold investors alike.” — I-Net Bridge