AngloGold Ashanti Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Reg. No. 1944/017354/06)
ISIN No. ZAE000043485 - JSE share code: ANG
CUSIP: 035128206 - NYSE share code: AU
15 September 2014
NEWS RELEASE
AngloGold Ashanti Provides Update on Proposed Restructuring, and Withdraws
Cautionary Announcement
(PRESS RELEASE) - Following the announcement of the proposed corporate
restructuring and capital raising on 10 September 2014, AngloGold Ashanti has,
as planned, engaged extensively with shareholders holding almost two-thirds of
its issued share capital, to solicit feedback on these proposals. The proposed
restructuring would create a London-listed entity to house the company's
international assets with the South African assets remaining at AngloGold
Ashanti, thus creating two simpler and more focused entities.
There has been broad support for the strategic logic of the restructuring, but
a number of shareholders have expressed concerns about certain aspects of the
proposed transactions, in particular the quantum of the equity capital raising
needed to enable the restructuring to be implemented in accordance with
regulatory and other requirements.
AngloGold Ashanti has, therefore, decided not to proceed with the restructuring
and capital raising, as currently proposed. The company will continue to
evaluate all options to address debt levels and unlock value, taking into
account the feedback from its shareholders and its business needs.
AngloGold Ashanti has a world class portfolio of assets, growth projects and an
excellent track record of transforming its business to improve efficiency and
competitiveness over the past two years, to deliver a record safety performance
alongside production growth, operating and overhead cost reduction and improved
cash flows.
Reducing current high debt levels and improving overall financial flexibility
remain priorities for AngloGold Ashanti, which will now intensify its focus on
value creation opportunities deliverable within its current structure. The
company will continue to aggressively identify and implement further
operational efficiencies, reduce overhead structures and pursue other
initiatives to improve underlying business performance. The company will also
accelerate actions to strengthen its balance sheet including debt reduction,
portfolio simplification and options to unlock value from its Colombian
portfolio.
AngloGold Ashanti's Board and management would like to thank shareholders for
their ongoing input and stakeholders, regulators and representatives of
organised labour, for their support.
Further to the cautionary announcement dated 10 September 2014, caution is no
longer required to be exercised by shareholders when dealing in AngloGold
Ashanti securities.
ENDS
Sponsor to AngloGold Ashanti
UBS South Africa (Pty) Limited
CONTACTS
Media
Brunswick Group +44 (0) 20 7404 5959 / +27 (0) 11 502 7300 anglogoldashanti@brunswickgroup.com
Investors
Stewart Bailey +27 81 032 2563 / +27 11 637 6031 sbailey@anglogoldashanti.com
Fundisa Mgidi (South Africa) +27 11 6376763 / +27 82 821 5322 fmgidi@anglogoldashanti.com
Disclaimer
This announcement includes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed
to be, forward-looking statements, including, without limitation those
concerning: the economic outlook for the gold mining industry; expectations
regarding gold prices, production, cash costs, all-in sustaining costs, cost
savings and other operating results; return on equity, productivity
improvements, growth prospects and outlook of AngloGold Ashanti's operations,
individually or in the aggregate, including the achievement of project
milestones, the commencement and completion of commercial operations at certain
of AngloGold Ashanti's exploration and production projects and the completion
of acquisitions and dispositions; AngloGold Ashanti's liquidity and capital
resources and expenditure; and the outcome and consequences of any potential or
pending litigation or regulatory proceedings or environmental, health and
safety issues. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical
facts, but rather reflect AngloGold Ashanti's current expectations concerning
future results and events and generally may be identified by the use of
forward-looking words or phrases such as "believe", "aim", "expect",
"anticipate", "intend", "foresee", "forecast", "likely", "should", "planned",
"may", "estimated", "potential" or other similar words and phrases. Similarly,
statements that describe AngloGold Ashanti's objectives, plans or goals are or
may be forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors that may cause the AngloGold Ashanti's actual results,
performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. Although AngloGold Ashanti believes that the expectations reflected
in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given
that such expectations will prove to have been correct.
The forward-looking statements included in this announcement are made only as
of the last practicable date. AngloGold Ashanti undertakes no obligation to
update publicly or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. All subsequent written and oral
forward-looking statements attributable to AngloGold Ashanti or any person
acting on its behalf are qualified by the cautionary statement in this section.
For a discussion of risk factors, shareholders should refer to the annual
report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2013, which was filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on 14 April 2014. These factors are not
necessarily all of the important factors that could cause AngloGold Ashanti's
actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking
statements. Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also have material
adverse effects on future results.