JOHANNESBURG/LONDON (Reuters) – AngloGold Ashanti is considering separating its South African assets from the rest of its portfolio, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, three years after shareholders revolted against a similar effort.
Africa’s top bullion producer has hired Deutsche Bank to evaluate options but discussions are at an early stage, one of the sources said. AngloGold and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
The miner is looking at listing its international assets, which include gold mines in Western Australia and Brazil, in London, while the South African assets, some of which will be sold as part of the plan, will remain in the existing Johannesburg listing, the sources added.
“AngloGold is reviving aspirations to spin off the international assets from the South African ones,” a second source said. The first source added that bullion producer Harmony Gold is likely to buy some of the assets AngloGold plans to offload in South Africa. Harmony Gold declined to comment.
In 2016, AngloGold’s South African operations produced 967,000 ounces of gold, or 26 percent of its total output. The company said in June it could cut up to 8,500 jobs in South Africa as part of a restructuring after heavy losses.
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