Administrateur du site
Messages: 4400
Inscription: Jeu 30 Juil 2009 16:48
Localisation: la seyne sur mer
Lun 22 Nov 2010 07:53
KCM listing on LSE good for exposure of copper’
By Amos Malupenga
Mon 22 Nov. 2010, 04:01 CAT [155 Reads, 0 Comment(s)]
Text size
Finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane with KCM chief executive officer Kishore Kumar during the Konkola Copper Mines Post-IPO launch at Hotel InterContinental in Lusaka last Wednesday - Picture by Collins Phiri
Finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane with KCM chief executive officer Kishore Kumar during the Konkola Copper Mines Post-IPO launch at Hotel InterContinental in Lusaka last Wednesday - Picture by Collins Phiri
KCM chief executive officer Kishore Kumar says their plans to list the company on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) will deepen the exposure of Zambia’s mining sector to international markets, investors and shore up economic growth.
KCM is due to list on the LSE next month in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) intended to raise net proceeds of US $1.1bn for funding growth capital expenditure in the business and for the payment of certain existing loans and for other general corporate purposes.
In an interview yesterday, Kumar said Vedanta Resources and ZCCM-IH, which each have stakes of 79.4 per cent and 20.6 per cent in KCM respectively, have decided to exchange their shares for an equivalent ownership interest in a newly formed UK incorporated company that would be known as Konkola Resources Plc (KR).
Kumar said KR would own 100 per cent of KCM, and would issue shares to the public in the IPO which would result in both shareholders diluting their interest in the new company proportionately. KR will be initially floated on the LSC, one of the leading stock exchanges in the world.
The IPO will comprise both primary shares issued by KR and some secondary shares sold by Vedanta, Kumar said.
KCM plans a secondary listing on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE), shortly after the London listing is concluded.
Kumar said an important element in this initiative was the desire by management to empower its qualified employees who would be awarded a one-time free allocation of shares which they would be free to retain or sell on LuSE after an initial holding period to March 31, 2012.
Kumar said this was an opportunity for new investors to participate, alongside Vedanta and the Zambian government, in a large and liquid pure-play copper equity as it moves forward into a significant growth phase.
“We are proud and excited to be embarking on a secondary listing of KCM in conjunction with its London IPO,” Kumar said in reference to the planned secondary listing on LuSE. “We are very conscious of the importance of KCM to Zambia and of the need to give local investors the opportunity to participate in its future growth. We are therefore confident that the secondary listing will be well-supported and we look forward to contributing to the strong progress being made by the Lusaka Stock Exchange.”
Kumar said KCM was listing initially on LSE because it was a premier international listing destination, providing the access to capital and after-market liquidity required by KR, and a clear and transparent approach to corporate governance. He said there was also a longstanding and deep knowledge of mining companies, especially those with an African resource base.
Kumar said the planned IPO of KR represented a natural next step for the business in order to gain the capital and funding platform it needed to realise its potential.
“It also represents an important next step in Vedanta’s clear strategy to unlock value within the group,” Kumar added. “We believe that a separate listing for KR will provide greatly improved transparency as to the very strong and high quality growth to be delivered by that business, thereby achieving an appropriate valuation.”
Kumar said KCM was now at a stage in its development where it could broaden its ownership to employees, institutions and the general public so that they could all share in the wealth that would be created over the next several years as the company ramped up production.
He said KCM’s senior managers would undertake a road show to explain to the market and some potential investors the benefits of investing in the company.
Kumar said that Vedanta Group would remain KR’s major shareholder and that KR would benefit from Vedanta’s mining expertise and contacts. However, KR would operate on an arm’s length basis with relationship and services agreements put in place, its capitalisation being determined by the market.
Kumar said KCM said KR offered investors unique opportunity to access the African copper belt’s growth story on a pure-play basis via a liquid and London-listed company.
The Zambian government will be represented on the KR board by Alfred Lungu, a representative of ZCCM (the Zambian equivalent of the shareholder executive).
The full board of the KR comprises Kumar as chief executive officer, Navin Agarwal as non-executive chairman and Lungu who are connected directors. There will also be three independent non-executive directors. These are Geoffrey Green who is a partner at an international law firm Ashurst LLP, Ranjit Pandit who is General Atlantic LLC managing director and Dr Jacob Mwanza who chairs a number of boards for several Zambian companies and banks.
