Stillwater Mine Co. sale is a go

Shareholders of both the Stillwater Mining Company and Sibanye Gold Limited have approved a merger that will result in a transfer in ownership of the Montana mines.
“We are pleased with the tremendous shareholder support for the Sibanye transaction. We believe this is a very good outcome for Stillwater and delivers certain value of $18 per share in cash to our shareholders,” said SMC CEO Mick McMullen in a press release issued late Tuesday afternoon.
The $2.2 billion all-cash transaction was unanimously approved by the SMC board of directors and publicly announced in December 2016.
This past Tuesday, April 25, Stillwater and Sibanye shareholders approved the merger.
Stillwater shareholders owning a total of 103,088,167 shares of the 121,389,213 shares issued and outstanding on the record date were voted. A total of 91,012,990 shares, representing 75 percent of the outstanding shares, and 88 percent of shares voted, and voted in favor of the merger agreement, according to SMC. The merger is expected to close next week.
A week ago, the sale cleared the Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) inquiry and later in the week, SMC notified the New York Stock Exchange of its intent to delist. Should the merger fall through, the company will withdraw its notice of intent to delist from the NYSE.
Little change is anticipated. Sibanye officials have been to the Nye mine site and the East Boulder site in Sweet Grass County for on-site visits.
SMC is the only U.S. miner of platinum group metals (PGMs) and the largest primary producer of PGMs outside of South Africa and the Russian Federation.
Its property runs along the J-M Reef, which has the highest PGM grade deposit in the world.