Ghana Sells 1.28% AngloGold Stake at $43.97 a Share

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Ghana sold a 1.28 percent stake in AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., Africa’s biggest gold producer, for $43.97 a share, boosting government revenue by $215 million.

The offer, which closed yesterday, was “significantly oversubscribed with strong demand from both South African and international investors,” the Johannesburg-based unit of manager Macquarie Group Ltd. said in an e-mailed statement today. The sale of 4.88 million shares leaves Ghana with 1.72 percent in AngloGold that it agreed not to sell for 180 days.

The West African nation on Nov. 18 said it would sell AngloGold Ashanti stock and royalties from other producers to help curb a fiscal deficit. Ghana was issued the shares in April 2004 when AngloGold Ltd. and Ashanti Goldfields Co. merged.

The sale price was 2.5 percent below the $45.10 level that the company’s American depository receipts closed at in New York yesterday. Ghana also sold the shares at 302 rand ($43.48) each. AngloGold was little changed at 310.50 rand by 1:07 p.m. in Johannesburg trading, giving it a value of 119 billion rand.

The government started an austerity program in 2009 to bring down the country’s budget deficit.

AngloGold has two of its 21 operations in Ghana. The Obuasi and Iduapriem sites produced 571,000 ounces in 2009. Spokesman Alan Fine declined to comment on the sale when Bloomberg reached him by phone in Johannesburg today.