29th Jul 2005 11:07
Lonmin PLC29 July 2005 LONMIN COMPLETES COMPULSORY ACQUISITION OF REMAINING SHARES OF SOUTHERN PLATINUM LONDON, ENGLAND and TORONTO, ONTARIO - July 29, 2005 - Lonmin Investments CanadaInc. ("Lonmin Investments") and Southern Platinum Corp. ("Southern Platinum")announce that on June 28, 2005 Lonmin Investments became the sole shareholder ofSouthern Platinum following the completion of statutory compulsory acquisitionproceedings pursuant to the provisions of the Canada Business Corporations Act.As a result of the compulsory acquisition, Lonmin Investments acquired all ofthe common shares ("SPC Shares") in the capital of Southern Platinum whichLonmin Investments did not previously own. Lonmin Investments had previouslyacquired approximately 85,090,000 SPC Shares pursuant to its takeover bid thatconcluded on June 28, 2005, representing approximately 97% of the aggregatenumber of issued and outstanding SPC Shares and approximately 91% of the SPCShares on a fully diluted basis. In connection with the compulsory acquisition,the SPC Shares were delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange at the close oftrading on July 26, 2005. On July 29, 2005, after the completion of the compulsory acquisition, SouthernPlatinum effected a share reclassification (the "Reclassification") whereby eachissued and outstanding SPC Share was changed into a preferred share of SouthernPlatinum redeemable by Southern Platinum or the holder thereof for a redemptionprice of $2.66 per preferred share. Lonmin Investments also subscribed for andholds all of the shares outstanding of a newly created class of common shares ofSouthern Platinum. As a result of the Reclassification, the terms of the TorontoStock Exchange-listed warrants outstanding under the warrant indenture ofNovember 17, 2003 entered into by SouthernEra Diamonds Inc., Southern Platinumand Computershare Trust Company of Canada were amended as of July 29, 2005 andSouthern Platinum was released from all of its obligations in respect of suchwarrants. Southern Platinum and Lonmin Investments intend to amalgamate on August 1, 2005with the surviving corporate entity to be named Lonmin Investments Canada Inc.,which will be a whollyowned subsidiary of Lonmin Plc. The amalgamated companywill apply to Canadian securities regulatories to cease to be a reporting issuerunder the securities laws in all applicable provinces of Canada. ************************* This press release includes forward-looking statements. All statements otherthan statements of historical fact included in this press release, and allstatements regarding plans, objectives and expected performance, areforward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements have been based oncurrent expectations and projections about future events, including numerousassumptions. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the useof forwardlooking terminology such as "ambition", "may", "will", "expect","intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "seek" or "continue" ornegative forms or variations of similar terminology. Such forward-lookingstatements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and otherfactors related to Lonmin Plc, Lonmin Investments and Southern Platinum Corp. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actualresults may differ materially from those expressed in forward-lookingstatements. Given these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, you are cautionednot to put undue reliance on any forwardlooking statements. In addition, theinclusion of such forward-looking statements should under no circumstances beregarded as a representation by Lonmin Plc, Lonmin Investments or SouthernPlatinum that either will achieve any results set out in such statements or thatthe underlying assumptions used will in fact be the case. For Further Information: Lonmin Investments and Southern Platinum: Alex Shorland-Ball, Vice President Investor Relations & Communications, Lonmin Plc - +44 20 7201 6060 Media Enquiries: United Kingdom: Nadja Vetter, Anthony Cardew - CardewGroup - +44 (0)20 7930 0777 South Africa: Johannes van Niekerk - College Hill - +27 11 447 3030 or +27 82 921 9110 Canada: John Lute - Lute & Company - +1 416 929 5883 ext 222 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Lonmin