Diversified gold producer Gold Fields has announced the sale of its shareholdings in two non-core investments, Maverix Metals and Red 5, for combined proceeds of £70m.
Gold Fields said that it has sold its interest in both the positions for a significant premium to the look-through acquisition costs.
The completed sale includes the company’s 19.9% shareholding in Toronto-based gold and royalty streaming company Maverix, processed through a series of private market transactions and raised £54m.
In December 2016, the company sold the bulk of its royalty portfolio to Maverix in return for the 19.9% shareholding. In the present sale, Gold Fields would retain 4.125 million Maverix warrants that accounts for a 3.68% interest on a partially-diluted basis.
Gold Fields sells 19.9% stake in Red 5
In April 2019, Gold Fields sold its 247 million shares in the mining company Red 5, that accounts for 19.9% of its total shareholding for a total consideration of £15.8m.
Gold Fields had acquired the 19.9% stake in Red 5 during the sale of its Darlot gold mine in Western Australia to Red 5 in October 2017.
Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland said: “One of our key objectives is to reduce the amount of debt on our balance sheet. In addition to the restructuring of Gold Fields’ debt announced over the past few months, using the proceeds from the sales of our non-core investments to pay down debt will further improve liquidity.”
In August 2018, the company acquired a 50% interest in Asanko’s 90% interest in the Asanko Gold Mine and its associated properties in Ghana, West Africa.
Under the transaction, Asanko was paid £130m in cash by Gold Fields, with the remaining £15.7m agreed to be receivable in cash upon achievement of Esaase development milestone.
Gold Fields is a globally diversified gold producer with eight operating mines and two projects in Australia, Chile, Ghana, Peru and South Africa.
