South Africa headquartered Trans Hex Group Ltd has announced the completion of the acquisition of the Namaqualand mines from De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) by Emerald Panther Investments (EPI) 78 Ltd., in which it holds a 40 per cent stake following the fulfilment of all conditions agreed upon in the agreement signed earlier this year. The acquisition is effective October 28.

The deal was first drawn up over three years ago, but faced several delays on different fronts, including, but not limited to securing all necessary statutory and regulatory approvals.

Supplementary agreements between the two parties in June and September this year modified some of the clauses and a Special Purpose Vehicle was set up for the purpose housing the State’s 20% interest in EPI.

Other shareholders in the mine include Trans Hex (40%), RECM and Calibre Limited (27.2%),  Dinoka Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd (8.8%)  and  the Namaqualand Diamond Fund Trust, a trust representing the interests of various communities in the Namaqualand region (4%).

Finalisation of the sale took place soon after the approval of revised loan terms by the  Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa which provided EPI with funding of R189 million.

“The acquisition by EPI of NM will increase the life of mine of Trans Hex’s South African operations to 14 years In addition, commencement of operations at NM will provide much needed employment in the region,” said Llewellyn Delport, CEO of Trans Hex.