South African gold miner AngloGold Ashanti on Monday revealed details of its empowerment transaction with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity, union Usas and Izingwe Holdings.
The transaction, which is subject to shareholder approval, has two related components.
The three unions and the company have agreed upon the architecture of an employee share ownership plan (Esop), to be called the Bokamoso Esop, or “harvesting for the future”.
All employees at AngloGold Ashanti’s South African operations who are not already participants in any share incentive scheme, will qualify as beneficiaries of Bokamoso Esop.
This will involve just over 30 000 employees. Approximately 91,5% of eligible employees are historically disadvantaged South Africans. A trust would be established to acquire and administer the shares to be issued on behalf of the eligible employees.
The company will issue approximately 3,84-million shares to the Bokamoso Trust, representing approximately 1,4% of AngloGold Ashanti’s issued share capital.
The shares issued to the Bokamoso Trust will be a combination of ordinary shares (free shares) and a new class of shares (loan shares). Each eligible employee will be allocated 30 free shares and 90 loan shares at a 10% discount to market value at the commencement of the scheme. Both classes of shares will have full voting and dividend rights.
Anglo said that the trust would be managed by a nine-person board of trustees. The second component involves a transaction to further enhance AngloGold Ashanti’s empowerment profile, whereby Izingwe Holdings will acquire an equity interest in the company. The transaction will be structured in a similar manner to the loan shares issued in terms of the Bokamoso Esop.
Izingwe Holdings — a BEE investment company chaired by Sipho Pityana — will acquire approximately 1,4-million AngloGold Ashanti loan shares at par value, which represents approximately 0,5% of the company’s issued share capital.
These shares will have full voting and dividend rights.
Pityana is to join the board of directors of AngloGold Ashanti.
AngloGold Ashanti added that the transaction would be implemented before the end of the year, though there remained various regulatory and legal matters to be finalised, including the approval of the transaction by shareholders. – I-Net Bridge