Mowana Mine sale to be concluded August
Chakalisa Dube | Wednesday May 18, 2016 18:00
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) managing director, Butler Phiri confirmed the development to Mmegi Business yesterday. The firm has been tasked to sell the mine.
Mowana was placed under liquidation November last year after failing to pay its liquidators.
One of Mowana’s contractors, Diesel Power (DP) applied for the mine’s liquidation over a P47 million debt.
PwC recently floated an advert in the media inviting bids from those who have interest in buying the mine.
“Expression of interest from those who want to buy the mine will close today (Wednesday). After closing for expression of interest, we will invite companies interested in buying the mine to our data room where they will assess various information about the mine such as its level of resources and its viability,” Phiri said.
Phiri said after the companies have assessed the information availed to them they will each be allowed to determine their buying prices through submission of proposals.
“I am of the view that by late June all bid proposals, particularly the buying prices, would have been perfected therefore paving way for us to choose the right buyer. Selling a facility like a mine is usually a complex process, but by early August I am hopeful that the sale of the mine will have been completed,” he said. He added: “However, it is worth noting that the finalisation of sale can go beyond August in the event that we encounter some problems during the sale process”.
Phiri declined to name those who are interested or the number of those who have expressed interest so far saying that PwC has signed a non-disclosure agreement with bidders on certain key aspects of the sale.
However, last month Phiri told Mmegi Business that though a formal invitation of bids to buy Mowana was yet to be opened, there has been significant interest to buy the mine.
At the time, he said more than three companies from Botswana and abroad had informally expressed desire to buy the troubled mine.
Since African Copper shipped its first copper at Mowana in 2008, it has often struggled as a result of poor copper prices.
Mowana together with its sister company Thakadu, which is located at Matsitama often survived through a bailout from its parent company, ZCI.
Among Mowana’s creditors is the government of Botswana, which is reportedly owed millions in royalties. Thakadu closed shop before Mowana because it was deemed a non-viable entity.
The company even delisted from the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) as a result of low demand of its shares. By March 2015, African Copper had a multi-million pula debt to ZCI.
The liquidation left over 400 workers jobless and instantly killed the economy of Dukwi and surrounding areas.