TWP FINANCE ACQUIRES A STRATEGIC STAKE IN AFRICAN EAGLE
26 March 2008
African Eagle Resources plc (“African Eagle” or “the Company”, ticker AIM: AFE, AltX: AEA) has been advised by TWP Finance (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of TWP Holdings (a multi-disciplinary consulting engineering firm based in South Africa) that TWP has acquired 9,515,499 ordinary shares in African Eagle, representing a 4.48% interest in the issued shares of the Company.
Dean Cunningham, chief executive of TWP Finance, says this development reflects that company’s commitment to becoming increasingly involved in early stage exploration projects around the globe.
“We regard this development as an initial stake in African Eagle and intend increasing our involvement in the medium to long term to develop a strategic stake in the company,” he says. “The acquisition of these shares gives us access to exploration projects in Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique and we can now leverage our skills base and intellectual property to create an excellent platform for investment opportunities.
“African Eagle is strategically well positioned in central and eastern Africa, with significant opportunities across a number of key commodities, notably copper, gold and uranium. This company has a respected exploration team on the ground, with great contacts in the three regions in which it operates. It could also serve as a springboard to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other countries.
“There’s perfect synergy in the coming together of our two companies and the timing is opportune, given that African Eagle’s strategy has recently shifted towards developing mining operations of its own, rather than bringing joint venture partners into every project. TWP’s world-class engineers have the skills and experience to assist in this strategy. Future involvement will revolve around project and service inputs from our side, development partnerships on AFE’s existing projects and the securing of new projects jointly by TWP Finance and African Eagle working together.
Cunningham adds that the African Eagle shares are an attractive prospect at present, as they are relatively undervalued despite the high metals prices in the extended commodity cycle.
John Park, Chairman of African Eagle, welcomed the announcement by TWP, commenting “TWP has skills, capabilities and assets which complement African Eagle’s own asset and skills base very well. We see TWP as a preferred partner, through project development partnerships or via the provision of services by TWP Consulting,” says Park. “The partners will also seek new joint involvements in the future, which will be financed from an increase in the share price as investors recognise the potential of this dynamic new affiliation, from the strength TWP brings to the balance sheet and in the future, from project cash flows.”
“The timing is highly fortuitous, following as it does the African Eagle board’s decision to take into production some of its mid-tier gold and copper assets. African Eagle has a good track record of working closely with its partners to ensure maximum benefits for all, and we are sure, will do so with TWP Personally I’m looking forward very much to the evolution of the Company that this first stake in African Eagle will stimulate.”
John Park
Chairman
African Eagle Resources plc
For further information, contact one of the following:
TWP
Dean Cunningham
+27 82 490 6429
+27 11 6947635
African Eagle
Mark Parker
Managing Director
+44 20 7248 6059
+44 77 5640 6899
Nicola Marrin
Seymour Pierce Limited
Nominated Adviser
+ 44 20 7107 8000
Charmane Russell
Russell & Associates, Johannesburg
+ 27 11 8803924
+27 82 8928052
Ed Portman / Leesa Peters
Conduit PR
+44 20 7429 6607
+44 (0) 7733 635 01
About African Eagle
African Eagle is a diversified mineral exploration and development company operating in eastern and central Africa. The company’s principal advanced projects are the Mkushi Copper Mines project in Zambia and the Miyabi gold project in Tanzania, which are being fast-tracked towards production. The company also holds a large well-balanced portfolio of promising earlier stage gold and base metal projects, including the Ndola copper project and the Eagle Eye iron-oxide copper gold project.
Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, the sites of African Eagle’s projects, are all countries which have highly prospective geology, relatively low aboveground risks and track records of successful major investments in the metals and minerals industries.
African Eagle specialises in project generation and exploration. To take its discoveries into production, it seeks to sign up industry partners with records of successful mine development. These joint ventures and, in time, the revenue from advanced projects, will finance future exploration and new discoveries.
About TWP
TWP Holdings listed on the main board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in November 2007, under the heavy construction sector, having burgeoned from a small group of professionals into a highly capable resource focused engineering project house — with a head count of more than 1300 — over the past 25 years. The Group has evolved to a point where it can offer complete professional solutions to the mining industry, with services spanning resource identification, bankable feasibility studies, mine and production planning, process engineering, project execution, delivery and project handover.
The value of projects currently under TWP management exceeds R70-billion and some of its project pipeline extends beyond 2016. Income going forward is largely secured, with funds already committed to many of these projects.
TWP Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of TWP Holdings. It was created to take advantage of the numerous opportunities available in the global resources and commodity industry. With its own strategy and management structure, TWP Finance boasts a dynamic team of financial professionals who are experts in project evaluation and funding across the full spectrum of resources and commodities — from exploration and development, right through to beneficiation and processing of metals and minerals.