Aquarius platinum in talks to take over Ridge Mining
British platinum group metal developer Ridge Mining Plc (RDG.L: Quote) said on Thursday it was in talks with rival Aquarius Platinum Ltd (AQP.L: Quote), regarding a possible sale of Ridge, sending its shares up almost 62 percent.
“There is no certainty as to the terms and structure of any such transaction nor that an agreement will be reached between the company and Aquarius,” Ridge Mining said in a statement.
Last week, South Africa-focused miner Aquarius Platinum, which is seeking to refinance $167 million in debt, said it was in talks about possible mergers.
Aquarius Chief Executive Stuart Murray had said that companies were now valuing themselves based on their net asset value (NAV) due to weak metals prices and a fall in share prices, and acquisitions or mergers would probably be based around NAV.
Analysts have long called for a reduction in the large number of small platinum players in South Africa that grew rapidly during a commodities boom but are currently under heavy pressure from a collapse in prices.
At 1627 GMT, Ridge shares were up 50.8 percent at 47.5 pence, against a 2.4 percent fall in the UK mining index.
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