Anglo American must consider spinning off platinum assets, PIC says
A 14.5% owner of Anglo, the PIC wants to form an SA-owned mining firm that helps SA meet empowerment targets while also achieving returns for pensioners
Anglo American’s biggest shareholder is insisting that the miner include platinum operations in a package of South African assets that it is considering spinning off, according to a person familiar with the investor’s thinking. The stance of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which handles South African public workers’ pensions, presents a major hurdle to Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani. He has maintained that platinum will be one of the producer’s core commodities, along with copper and diamonds, after the company divests assets in SA. Anglo, whose Anglo American Platinum is the world’s biggest producer of the metal, wants to shrink its global portfolio of mines to focus on its lowest-cost assets while also reducing debt. Anglo is increasingly favouring spinning off its iron-ore and thermal-coal assets in SA rather than selling them, a person close to the company said on Monday, asking not to be identified. A surge in commodity prices this year has helped cut the producer’s ...
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