Fears for job losses are unfounded - Bristow

Accra, Oct. 7, GNA - Dr Mark Bristow, Chief Executive Officer of RandGold Resources Limited, a mining firm, on Monday dismissed as false claims of job losses for Ghanaian management staff if the company wins its merger bid for Ashanti Goldfields.

Dr Bristow told journalists that any such suspicions were unfounded since the company rather had plans to develop and make use of Ghanaian expertise at the executive, management and the professional level to steer the affairs of the new company.


"We've proposed that Sam Jonah takes over as Chairman of the company to shepherd it through its next phase.


As far as the Chief Operating Officer we see that coming out of Ashanti. We don't see any major casualties in this process at all."


Randgold, a South African based mining company, has already offered to maintain Ashanti as the new company's name and also to retain the headquarters in Accra.

The company, listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the NASDAQ, is offering a counter bid of 1.4 billion dollars for Ashanti, which it said offered a sound secure platform for the new Ashanti to become a powerful player on the world market.


"We are not proposing to take Ashanti away from the market. We are proposing to entrench it in the market as an independent gold business," Dr Mark Bristow said.


Dr Bristow spoke of plans to re-launch the Ashanti brand name on the London Stock Exchange with full UK index membership with the enlarged business been listed on the Ghana and the New York Stock Exchanges.


This will surely create a major independent Pan-African focused gold business.

"Randgold believes that the enlarged business will be a low cost gold producer with critical mass and significant growth potential likely to yield two million ounces a year, which proceeds could be used to self-finance operations.


Anglogold, which until the Randgold counter bid announcement was the sole bidder, is under enormous pressure to revise its bid price upwards to meet the new challenge.


But Dr Bristow said though he believed in Anglogold, he did not think that it has what it takes to turn Ashanti into the world-beater Randgold intended it to be.


Under the terms of the merger proposal by Randgold, each holder of an Ashanti Share and each of the Ashanti Ghanaian Depository Receipts would be entitled to elect to receive 0.5 Randgold shares or 0.5 Randgold American Depository Receipts of 50 Randgold GhDRs.

"So what our offer does is it leaves 70 per cent of the current Ashanti with the Ashanti Shareholders. Whereas Anglogold's offer leaves 13 per cent of the current Ashanti with the Ashanti shareholders." The 1.4 billion dollars will be expended on the new enlarged Ashanti over the 51-year life span of the Obuasi mine with 100 million dollars for project management.


Dr Bristow said Randgold proposal represented a genuine and attractive alternative to the transaction currently proposed by Anglogold, with a lower level of conditionality.


"Anglogold offer suggests to move the headquarters of the company to South Africa. However, you will realise that South Africa already has over six major mining firms. Why take another huge company such as Ashanti, there?" he questioned.


Dr Bristow said; "it is better to keep it as it was, where investors can invest in an emerging market and yet reap the benefits".

He said Randgold's proposal to Ashanti was to create a business that could self-finance itself, looking at the resources and reserves of the two companies.


The Ghanaian Government, which holds 16.9 per cent of Ashanti, has appointed a consortium led by Societe Generale to guide it in reaching a decision on the future of Ashanti.


It says any decision will be informed by the best interest of Ghana and its people and of Ashanti as a major trans-national mining enterprise.


The government holds the "Golden Share" that allows it to veto major decisions involving the operations of the company. Dr Bristow said the company would not allow the issue of the "Golden Share" to detract it from the main goal of a merger with Ashanti Goldfields.