Sibanye Gold Ltd. will consider transferring its primary listing to North America from Johannesburg in order to gain exposure to a wider set of investors, Bloomberg News reported Feb. 6.
The company would likely seek to list in New York or Toronto, with the move to allow it to tap capital in the new market and help finance future deals, CEO Neal Froneman said. Sibanye will maintain its listing at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Froneman said the company will focus on trimming its debt to ensure that its operations perform well and on completing the takeover of Lonmin Plc later in the year.
Once it closes the Lonmin acquisition, the company will look for more gold or silver assets, potentially in the U.S., or elsewhere in the Americas, as the growth options in South Africa are limited, the executive noted.
Froneman said that President Donald Trump's policies have made investment more attractive in the U.S. and the country has become a "friendly place" from the mining perspective.
"We are already there, that could be another region for growth," he added.
According to a presentation by Froneman, Lonmin's acquisition will result in platinum group metals accounting for over 70% of Sibanye's production by 2021.
