Gold Fields Sells its Venezuela Assets for US$532 Million
October 12 2007 - 3:02AM
PR Newswire (US)
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, October 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) (NYSE, JSE) (DIFX: GFI) is
pleased to announce that agreement has been reached in terms of
which Gold Fields will effectively dispose of its assets in
Venezuela to Rusoro Mining Ltd. (Rusoro) (TSXV: RML), for a total
consideration of approximately US$532(i) million. Rusoro will pay
Gold Fields a minimum of US$150 million in cash, US$30 million in
convertible debt, and 140 million Rusoro shares, which will be
approximately 38% of the outstanding shares of that Company after
the transaction has been concluded. The transaction includes Rusoro
acquiring Gold Fields' stake in the Choco 10 gold mine, as well as
the contiguous mineral rights owned by Gold Fields. Ian Cockerill,
Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields said: "Additional capital
investment is required to realise the full potential of the Choco
10 gold mine. However, after careful consideration we have
concluded that, given the current environment, this investment is
better made by others, with Gold Fields retaining exposure to the
upside inherent in the assets." "The offer from Rusoro has
presented us with an attractive opportunity to achieve this
objective, as well as a return of approximately 25% on our total
investment of US$425 million." The proceeds from the sale will be
reinvested to create value for Gold Fields' shareholders. Options
under consideration include, inter alia, debt reduction and the
funding of Gold Fields' extensive capital investment portfolio.
Cockerill added that while this sale reduced Gold Fields'
international footprint, the Company remained fully committed to
its strategy of international growth: "We have definitely not
changed course and our aspiration to grow our international
portfolio with appropriately sized, value adding assets, remain as
strong as ever." (i) Based on the 10-day VWAP of the Rusoro share
price The transaction is subject to various conditions, including
South African Reserve Bank and Rusoro stock exchange approvals, the
raising of the required funding by Rusoro, as well as approval by
Rusoro shareholders, more than 50% of whom has given written
irrevocable support to the transaction. Rusoro and Gold Fields
expect the transaction to close in early December 2007. Orion
Securities Inc. acted as exclusive financial advisor and McCarthy
Tetrault LLP acted as legal advisor to Gold Fields. A telephone
conference call will be held at 16:00 Johannesburg time (10:00am
EST) today, 12 October 2007, to explain the rationale for the sale
of the Venezuela assets as well as the sale of the Essakane Project
announced on Thursday, 11 October 2007. The details of the
conference call appear at the end of this press release. Gold
Fields Limited is one of the world's largest unhedged producers of
gold with production of approximately 4.0 million ounces per annum,
mineral reserves of 94 million ounces and mineral resources of 252
million ounces. The Group employs some 47,000 employees across its
operations and is listed on the JSE Limited South Africa (JSE)
(primary listing), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as well as
the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX). CONFERENCE CALL
DETAILS Friday, 12 October 2007 For Johannesburg: 16:00 For United
Kingdom: 15:00 hours GMT For Europe: 16:00 hours, European time For
North America: 10:00 a.m., Eastern standard time DIAL IN NUMBERS
South Africa Toll: 011-535-3600 Toll-free 0800-200-648 USA
Toll:1-412-858-4600 Toll-free 1-800-860-2442 Australia Toll-free
1800-350-100 United Kingdom Toll-free 0800-917-7042 Canada
Toll-free 1-866-519-5086 Europe and other Toll:+41-916-105-600
Toll-free 800-246-78-700 Ask for Gold Fields call SIMULTANEOUS
AUDIO WEBCAST Available at our website,
http://www.goldfields.co.za/ DIGITAL REPLAY AVAILABLE ONE-HOUR
AFTER CALL Playback code: 2541# (Available for seven days) South
Africa & Other: +27-11-305-2030 USA: +1-412-317-0088 United
Kingdom: +44-(0)-808-234-6771 Europe: +41-91-612-4330 (Switzerland)
Australia: 1-800-91-250 DATASOURCE: Gold Fields Limited CONTACT:
Enquiries: Willie Jacobsz, Tel: +27-11-644-2460, Mobile:
+27-82-493-1377,
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