(Reuters) – South Africa’s Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd (Implats) (IMPJ.J) said on Monday it would buy Canada-based North American Palladium Ltd (PDL.TO) for about C$1 billion ($751.77 million), marking the miner’s first purchase outside of Africa.
Prices for Palladium XPD=, widely used in vehicle exhausts to reduce harmful emissions, have doubled from a low in August last year as tighter environmental regulations force carmakers to buy more of the precious metal.
“(The acquisition) not only signals our confidence in the prevailing platinum group metals (PGM) market but it also expedites our transition to a high-level multinational producer,” Implats Chief Executive Officer Nick Muller said on a media call.
Implats pursued North American Palladium for three years, and the deal adds the Lac des Iles Mine in Thunder Bay, Ontario to the South African company’s portfolio.
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