Overwhelming Rejection of The Proposed IAMGold Transaction
08 December 2004 - 12:28AM
PR Newswire (US)
Overwhelming Rejection of The Proposed IAMGold Transaction Harmony
Calls for Recommendation of The Proposed Merger JOHANNESBURG, South
Africa, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Harmony Gold (NYSE: "HMY";
JSE: "HAR") welcomes the rejection by Gold Fields (NYSE: "GFI";
JSE: "GFI") shareholders of the resolutions proposed in relation to
the now defeated IAMGold transaction. This was achieved despite the
attempt by Gold Fields' management to force through the IAMGold
resolutions by: -- failing to honor the provisions of Gold Fields'
contract with its depository bank, the Bank of New York, to give
notice of the substantial opposition to the proposed IAMGold
transaction; and -- refusing to recognize Harmony's holding of
approximately 11.8% in Gold Fields. Harmony considers that this
result represents a decisive rejection of the corporate strategy
that Gold Fields' management has put before its shareholders and is
therefore an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Gold Fields'
management. Harmony believes that Gold Fields' management should
now abandon its ill-conceived defense, which has been focused on a
series of expensive legal challenges to Harmony's offers aimed
solely at removing Gold Fields shareholders' ability to decide on
the merits of Harmony's offers for themselves. Harmony urges Gold
Fields' management to enter into discussions aimed at reaching
agreement on the terms of a recommended merger between Harmony and
Gold Fields. CE Bernard Swanepoel said: "Gold Fields shareholders
have now spoken. With this behind us, we now look forward to
engaging with Gold Fields' management to agree the terms of a
recommended merger of our two companies. This will remove the
uncertainty currently in the market, allowing our shares to return
to their true underlying value and will create the world's premier
gold mining company, a must-have investment for gold and non-gold
investors alike." 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. In connection with the proposed merger, Harmony
has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"),
a registration statement on Form F-4, which includes 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 resident in the United States and for Gold Fields ADSs
held by Gold Fields shareholders wherever resident, 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 contain important information. Investors and holders
of Gold Fields securities may obtain free copies of the
registration statement, the preliminary and final prospectus (when
available) 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/.
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
has sent 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 realized 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 has
filed 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: (direct line, mobile, email) -
Harmony Gold - Ferdi Dippenaar, +27-11-684-0140, or
+27-82-807-3684, or Corne Bobbert, +27-11-684-0146, or
+27-83-380-6614; or South Africa - Jennifer Cohen, +27-11-214-2401,
or +27-82-468-6469, , or Patrick Lawlor, +27-11-214-2410, or
+27-82-459-6709, , both of Beachhead Media & Investor
Relations; or United States - Hollis Rafkin-Sax, +1-212-850-5789,
or +1-917-509-0255, , or Torie Pennington, +1-212-850-5629, or
+1-917-838-1369, , both of Financial Dynamics Business
Communications; or United Kingdom - Nic Bennett, +44-207-269-7115,
or +44-7979-536-619, , or Charles Watenphul, +44-207-269-7216, or
+44-7866-438-013, , both of Financial Dynamics Business
Communications; or US Information Agent - Daniel Burch,
+1-212-929-5500, , or Steve Balet, 1-800-322-2885, both of
MacKenzie Partners, Inc
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