Macfarlanes advises Valterra Platinum on £7.5bn London listing

Macfarlanes has advised Valterra Platinum on its demerger from Anglo American and £7.5 billion London Stock Exchange debut, which went live on Monday (2 June).

The company, formerly named Anglo American Platinum, operates five mines and five smelters. It is a major supplier of platinum group metals used in catalytic converters, electronics, and hydrogen fuel technologies. Valterra is the world’s most valuable platinum producer.

Valterra’s London secondary listing comes alongside its primary listing in Johannesburg.

The deal is one of the most significant capital markets transactions of the year, and provides a much needed boost for London’s flagging deal flow. The City has long been considered a global hub for mining companies.

The listing follows the demerger of Valterra from parent company Anglo American, which is undertaking a large-scale restructuring. The mining group is also moving to offload other non-core businesses, including its nickel, coal and diamond operations, to focus on copper and iron ore. Last year, Anglo American turned to Linklaters to fend off a £39 billion takeover attempt by rival mining giant BHP - advised by Slaughters.

Advising

Macfarlanes advised Valterra on the listing and demerger, alongside South African co-counsel Bowman Gilfillan and Valterra’s GC Fiona Edmundson,

It's a high-profile, high-value capital markets mandate for Macfarlanes - and one that underscores the firm's continued strength on cross-border listings in a volatile market. It follows Macfarlanes’ role advising Ferrari Group on its Amsterdam IPO in February this year.

The transaction was led by corporate M&A partners Harry Coghill and Max Mittasch. A large cross-departmental team provided support, including partners Jeremy Moncrieff (tax), Rasmus Berglund (share incentives), Lika Jatoeva (employment tax) and Hayley Robinson (employment).

What they said

Coghill said: "This transaction is a significant boost to the London capital markets. We are delighted to have supported Valterra Platinum on this transformational deal, which allows the company to become independent and establish a larger market for trading in its shares".