18 August 2009

Publication: Mining Weekly

Author: Creamer Media Reporter

South African diversified exploration company Sephaku Holdings would list on the main board of the JSE on Friday.

“We are indeed delighted to list our company on the JSE. We have, over the last four years, built a company with a solid strategy and [an] equally solid portfolio of assets. Our commitment to our shareholders, 54% of whom represent previously disadvantaged groupings and individuals, has always been to list the company and we are proud to do so this week,” Sephaku founder and executive chairperson Dr Lelau Mohuba said in a statement on Tuesday.

He added that the listing would also provide the company with a reputable, highly visible market for shareholders to invest in, while also broadening Sephaku’s public profile and providing an additional avenue for potential funding for the future.

“I am confident we will receive continued strong support from institutions and private individuals in time to come, given the unique set of assets that we have put together, coupled with a management team that has in the past, proven itself highly successful in exploring and developing assets,” noted Sephaku Holdings CEO Neil Crafford-Lazarus.

The company, which was involved in the cement, fluorspar, coal and nickel sectors, had raised no new capital as part of its listing programme.

Sephaku’s most advanced project is the limestone and cement business, which would see, when funding negotiations were concluded, a new efficient cement plant being developed by the group.

Despite the tough markets seen over the past 12 months, Sephaku has managed to secure a number of interested parties, and negotiations are well advanced, it noted.

“We see our cement business as a proxy for our other commodities. We believe we have a strong core competence in bringing assets up the value curve and to feasibility stage, and, will, at feasibility stage, decide on how to proceed with the projects,” Crafford-Lazarus stated.