Due to Substantial Opposition to the Proposed IAMGold Transaction, Harmony Gold Launches Proceedings to Prevent Gold Fields' Man
November 30 2004 - 8:35AM
PR Newswire (US)
Due to Substantial Opposition to the Proposed IAMGold Transaction,
Harmony Gold Launches Proceedings to Prevent Gold Fields'
Management From Obtaining a Discretionary Proxy From the Bank of
New York JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Following Harmony Gold's (NYSE: "HMY"; JSE: "HAR") request to
Gold Fields' (NYSE: "GFI"; JSE: "GFI") management that it declines
to vote a discretionary proxy to help it force through the proposed
IAMGold transaction and Gold Fields' management's refusal to
provide that assurance, Harmony, in the interests of itself and its
fellow Gold Fields shareholders opposed to the proposed IAMGold
transaction, has regretfully been forced to commence proceedings
against Gold Fields and the Bank of New York ("BONY"). The
discretionary proxy The deposit agreement between Gold Fields and
BONY, the United States depositary of Gold Fields' American
Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), provides that Gold Fields' management
be entitled to vote, in its sole discretion, those ADSs that are
voted neither in favour of nor against a proposed resolution (the
"discretionary proxy"). A further term of the deposit agreement is
that, should substantial opposition exist to the matters in respect
of which the discretionary proxy is to be granted, or should such
matter materially and adversely affect the rights of holders of
Gold Fields shares, Gold Fields' management should inform BONY of
this and, consequently, the discretionary proxy should not be
granted. This term is specifically designed to prevent Gold Fields'
management from forcing through resolutions that are against the
wishes of a substantial number of Gold Fields' shareholders and/or
which materially adversely affect their rights. On 25 November
2004, Harmony notified the management and directors of Gold Fields
that, in Harmony's view, substantial opposition exists to the
proposed IAMGold transaction and that the implementation of such
transaction would materially adversely affect the rights of holders
of Gold Fields shares. Harmony requested that Gold Fields'
management notify BONY of such substantial opposition and material
adverse affect, with the effect that Gold Fields' management would
not be granted the discretionary proxy. Following Gold Fields'
management's failure to do so, Harmony has regretfully been forced
to commence proceedings in the Witwatersrand Local Division of the
High Court of South Africa, requiring Gold Fields' management to
notify BONY of this substantial opposition and material adverse
affect. Simultaneously, Harmony has also had to file an injunction
in the United States seeking to prevent BONY from issuing the
discretionary proxy. Substantial opposition On 29 November 2004,
Harmony announced that valid acceptances of the early settlement
offer had been received in respect of a total of 53, 392, 108 Gold
Fields shares representing approximately 10.8% of the entire issued
share capital of Gold Fields. Harmony has formally notified Gold
Fields of its opposition to the proposed IAMGold transaction. As
previously announced, Harmony has received an irrevocable
undertaking from Norilsk to vote against the proposed IAMGold
transaction in respect of 98,467,758 Gold Fields shares,
representing approximately 20.03% of the entire issued share
capital of Gold Fields. * Furthermore, during meetings that Harmony
has held with Gold Fields' shareholders a significant number have
indicated that they oppose the proposed IAMGold transaction. This
fact has been confirmed by both Gold Fields' and IAMGold's
management's own statements in recent days. "At the time of the
IAMGold transaction, you know this is what I find somewhat
surprising, you know we struggled to find anybody who didn't like
the transaction, now all of a sudden people are saying -- No, it's
a lousy deal." -- Ian Cockerill, CEO of Gold Fields, 3 November
2004. "It looks like Gold Fields might be getting cold feet after
hearing from their shareholders that they don't like the deal"
(Bloomberg quoting Wayne McCurri who oversees the management of
some $1,9 billion assets, including Gold Fields and Harmony
shares). On 27 November 2004, when Joe Conway, the Chief Executive
of IAMGold, is reported to have acknowledged that "there still is
significant opposition to the proposal ... the issue remains that
Gold Fields shareholders are still somewhat divided at this point".
Accordingly, Harmony believes that there is substantial opposition
to the proposed IAMGold transaction. The level of opposition is
even more significant in the context of the historic level of
attendance at such general meetings (approximately 70% at the
recent annual general meeting). In Harmony's view, should Gold
Fields' management be granted the discretionary proxy in respect of
the proposed IAMGold transaction, this could potentially assist
Gold Fields' management in forcing through the resolutions relating
to IAMGold against the wishes of a substantial number of Gold
Fields' shareholders. Harmony firmly believes that it is Gold
Fields' shareholders, rather than Gold Fields' management, who
should decide on the merits of the proposed IAMGold transaction.
Material adverse affect Harmony is of the view that the
implementation of the proposed IAMGold transaction will materially
and adversely affect the rights of holders of Gold Fields shares.
Harmony's subsequent offer is conditional upon, inter alia, the
proposed IAMGold transaction not being implemented. Holders of Gold
Fields shares who wish to accept Harmony's subsequent offer may be
denied that opportunity if the proposed IAMGold transaction is
approved. The proposed IAMGold transaction Harmony considers that
Gold Fields' rationale for the proposed IAMGold transaction is
unconvincing and difficult to justify from both a value and
structural perspective. In addition, Harmony believes that the
proposed IAMGold transaction has significant negative implications
for Gold Fields, its shareholders, its South African asset
portfolio and all of its stakeholders. In summary, under the terms
of the proposed IAMGold transaction, Harmony believes that Gold
Fields shareholders will not receive full value for their
international asset portfolio, will lose control of their future
growth and could face future dividend reductions. Harmony remains
of the strong view that a board that has a major strategic move
rejected by its own shareholders should consider whether it
continues to have the support and confidence of its shareholders.
Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions contained in
the offer document or the registration statement sent to Gold
Fields shareholders have the same meaning in this announcement. *
As previously disclosed, the irrevocable undertaking from Norilsk
to vote against the proposed IAMGold transaction and to accept the
subsequent offer is a legally binding contractual agreement. This
agreement would cease to be binding on Norilsk in the event that a
competing offeror were to make an offer for the entire issued share
capital of Gold Fields at a price that represented a 15% premium to
the value of Harmony's offers. Under the terms of the agreement,
Harmony retains the right to match any such competing offer with
the effect that the agreement would remain binding on Norilsk. In
connection with the proposed merger, Harmony will file with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), a registration
statement on Form F-4, which will include a preliminary prospectus
and related exchange offer materials, to register the Harmony
ordinary shares (including Harmony ordinary shares represented by
Harmony ADSs) to be issued in exchange for the remainder of Gold
Fields ordinary shares held by Gold Fields shareholders located in
the United States and for Gold Fields ADSs held by Gold Fields
shareholders wherever located, as well as a Statement on Schedule
TO. Investors and holders of Gold Fields securities are strongly
advised to read the registration statement and the preliminary
prospectus, the related exchange offer materials and the final
prospectus (when available), the Statement on Schedule TO and any
other relevant documents filed with the SEC, as well as any
amendments and supplements to those documents, because they will
contain important information. Investors and holders of Gold Fields
securities may obtain free copies of the registration statement,
the preliminary and final prospectus and related exchange offer
materials and the Statement on Schedule TO, as well as other
relevant documents filed or to be filed with the SEC, at the SEC's
web site at http://www.sec.gov/. Investors and holders of Gold
Fields securities will receive information at an appropriate time
on how to obtain transaction-related documents for free from
Harmony or its duly designated agent. The preliminary prospectus
and other transaction-related documents may be obtained for free
from MacKenzie Partners, Inc., the information agent for the U.S.
offer, at the following address: 105 Madison Avenue, New York, New
York 10016; telephone 1 212 929 5500 (call collect) or 1 800 322
2885 (toll-free call); e-mail . This communication is for
information purposes only. It shall not constitute an offer to
purchase or exchange or the solicitation of an offer to sell or
exchange any securities of Gold Fields or an offer to sell or
exchange or the solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange any
securities of Harmony in the US, nor shall there be any sale or
exchange of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer,
solicitation or sale or exchange would be unlawful prior to the
registration or qualification under the laws of such jurisdiction.
The distribution of this communication may, in some countries, be
restricted by law or regulation. Accordingly, persons who come into
possession of this document should inform themselves of and observe
these restrictions. The solicitation of offers to buy Gold Fields
ordinary shares (including Gold Fields ordinary shares represented
by Gold Fields ADSs) in the US will only be made pursuant to a
prospectus and related offer materials that Harmony will send to
holders of Gold Fields securities. The Harmony ordinary shares
(including Harmony ordinary shares represented by Harmony ADSs) may
not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, in the US prior to
the time the registration statement becomes effective. No offering
of securities shall be made in the US except by means of a
prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the United
States Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Forward-looking
Statements Statements in this announcement include "forward-looking
statements" that express or imply expectations of future events or
results. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not
historical facts. These statements include financial projections
and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements
regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future
operations, products and services, and statements regarding future
performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by
the words "expect," "anticipates," "believes," "intends,"
"estimates" and similar expressions. All forward-looking statements
involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, and
Harmony cannot give assurances that such statements will prove to
be correct. Risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied
by the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the
satisfaction of closing conditions, the acceptance or rejection of
any agreement by regulators, delays in the regulatory processes,
changes in the economic or political situation in South Africa, the
European Union, the US and/or any other relevant jurisdiction,
changes in the gold industry within any such country or area or
worldwide and the performance of (and cost savings realised by)
Harmony. Although Harmony's management believes that the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable, investors and holders of Gold Fields securities are
cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are
subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are
difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Harmony,
that could cause actual results and developments to differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the
forward-looking information and statements. These risks and
uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the public
filings with the SEC made by Harmony and Gold Fields, including
those listed under "Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the preliminary prospectus
included in the registration statement on Form F-4 that Harmony
will file with the SEC. Harmony does not undertake any obligation
to update any forward-looking information or statements. You may
obtain a free copy of the registration statement and preliminary
and final prospectus (when available) and other public documents
filed with the SEC in the manner described above. The directors of
Harmony accept responsibility for the information contained in this
announcement. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the
directors of Harmony (who have taken all reasonable care to ensure
that such is the case), the information contained in this
announcement is in accordance with the facts and does not omit
anything likely to affect the import of such information.
DATASOURCE: Harmony Gold CONTACT: Harmony Gold: Ferdi Dippenaar,
+27-11-684-0140 (direct), +27-82-807-3684 (mobile), or Corne
Bobbert, +27-11-684-0146 (direct), +27-83-380-6614 (mobile); or
South Africa: Beachhead Media & Investor Relations - Jennifer
Cohen, +27-11-214-2401 (direct), +27-82-468-6469 (mobile), , or
Patrick Lawlor, +27-11-214-2410 (direct), +27-82-459-6709 (mobile),
; or United States: Financial Dynamics Business Communications -
Hollis Rafkin-Sax, +1-212-850-5789 (direct), +1-917-509-0255
(mobile), , or Torie Pennington, +1-212-850-5629 (direct),
+1-917-838-1369 (mobile), ; or United Kingdom: Financial Dynamics
Business Communications - Nic Bennett, +44-207-269-7115 (direct),
+44-7979-536-619 (mobile), ; or Charles Watenphul, +44-207-269-7216
(direct), +44-7866-438-013 (mobile), ; or US Information Agent -
MacKenzie Partners, Inc., Daniel Burch, +1-212-929-5500, , or Steve
Balet, 1-800-322-2885
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