18th Feb 2008 07:00
Coal of Africa Limited18 February 2008 COAL OF AFRICA LIMITED ("CoAL" or "the Company") APPROVAL RECEIVED AND NEW AGREEMENT REACHED TO ACQUIRE 100% INTEREST IN MOOIPLAATS COAL PROJECT, SOUTH AFRICA • Section 11 (1) approval received satisfying last remaining condition to complete acquisition of the 70% interest in the Mooiplaats Coal Project ("Mooiplaats") • Coal of Africa Limited also reaches agreement to acquire remaining 30% interest in Mooiplaats for ZAR 130 million and 4.75 million shares CoAL of Africa Limited (ticker "CZA"), the AIM/ASX/JSE listed coal developmentcompany operating in South Africa, today announces that it has received consentfrom the Deputy Director General: Mineral Regulation Department of Minerals andEnergy, in terms of Section 11(1) of the Minerals and Petroleum ResourcesDevelopment Act 2002, satisfying the last remaining condition precedent forCoAL to complete its acquisition of 70% of the issued capital of the SouthAfrican company that owns Mooiplaats (70% Acquisition"). CoAL will now make the final £10 million cash payment and issue the remaining4.44 million shares in the Company to take its interest to 70%. Furthermore, CoAL is pleased to announce that it has also reached agreement toacquire the remaining 30% interest ("30% Acquisition"), taking its interest inMooiplaats to 100% upon completion. Total consideration payable for the 30% Acquisition has been agreed at ZAR130million in cash, together with 4.75 million shares in CoAL. Based on thecurrent share price and foreign exchange rates, this equates to approximatelyA$26.2 million (approximately £8.65 million). The issue of the 4.75 millionshares is subject to shareholder approval. Settlement of both transactions, save for the issue of 4.75 million sharespursuant to the 30% Acquisition which remains subject to shareholder approval,is expected within the next two weeks. The Company will lodge the relevantAppendix 3B and the application for admission to AIM for the 4.44m considerationshares (relating to the 70% Acquisition) under separate cover and will lodge aNotice of Meeting to, amongst other things, approve the issue of 4.75 millionshares, in due course. Managing Director of CoAL, Mr Simon Farrell said, "Receiving Section 11 approvalis a significant milestone, crystallising the Company's control in bringingMooiplaats into production. This, together with the agreement to take ourinterest to 100% clearly provides maximum upside and reward to the Company'sshareholders at time when spot coal prices continue trade at record levels." For more information contact: Simon Farrell, Managing Director CZA +61 417 985 383 or +61 8 9322 6776 Petronella Gorrie The Event Shop +27 82 827 8815 Leesa Peters / Jos Simson Conduit PR +44(0) 20 7429 6606 Olly Cairns / Romil Patel Blue Oar Securities Plc +61 8 6430 1631 +44(0) 20 7448 4400 About CoAL: Coal of Africa Limited ("CoAL"), formerly GVM Metals Limited, is primarilyfocused on the acquisition, exploration and development of thermal andmetallurgical coal projects. The Company's key projects, along with its leadingmetals processing company NiMag Group (Pty) Ltd are in South Africa. The Companywas incorporated in Western Australia and listed in 1980. Since 2005, theCompany has also listed on both the AIM and JSE markets, allowing further growthin the Company's coal assets. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
MCM.L