JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed Randgold & Exploration on Tuesday chose to go to arbitration to resolve its marathon dispute with JCI, in a move that could unlock R1-billion in liquid assets alone.
The two companies, which together hold a substantial volume of JSE-listed Gold Fields‘ shares, earlier this year held a series of merger hearings that were characterised by disagreement and adjournment and the two companies havfeed crushing machinee repeatedly failed to arrive at a settlement.
Both operated in the past under the leadership of the controversial, deceased mining magnate, Brett Kebble</ssand crushing processtrong>.
Randgold & Exploration, headed by CEO Marais Steyn, said that it has given its legal team instructstone crushing machine for saleions to make the necessary arrangements for the arbitration, following the lapsing of yet another settlement deadline.
While Randgold & Exploration said that its claims against JCI had still to be proven, it had contended in the past that a settlement would allow the unlocking of R1-billion in liquid assets alone, from the sale of the Gold Fields shares.
Ninety-five per cent of Randgold & Exploration shareholders earlier this year voted in favour of it merging with JCI as a means of resolving its claims against JCI.
The Letšeng/Monty Koppel holding in JCI was sufficient to prevent the merger from taking place.
In terms of the merger ratio, 78% of the pool of assets would have gone to Randgold & Exploration and the remaining 22% to JCI, headed by CEO Peter Gray.
The merger had taken place within the framework of the Securities Regulation Panel (SRP) code, the SRP being the regulatory body, established in accordance with the Companies Act, to govern effective transactions.
Even in going out of the SRP spotlight for a period, the parties have failed to reach agreement and must now do so before a still-unnamed arbitration panel.