Appian unmoved by Sibanye-Stillwater’s offer of talks

UK private equity fund Appian Capital Advisory seemed to rebuff Sibanye-Stillwater’s offer of a negotiated settlement regarding a damages claim between the two, saying in an email on Friday it was “confident that the High Court will deliver a fair resolution” .The claim relates to events in 2021 and 2022 when Sibanye-Stillwater pulled the plug on an agreement to buy two mines from Appian. The South African firm said this was due to the collapse of a pit wall at one of the mines – the Santa Rita nickel operation in Brazil – which it said had suffered a material adverse advent.Appian Capital subsequently brought a $1.2bn compensation claim against Sibanye-Stillwater. In its ruling in 2024, the UK court agreed with Appian Capital that the pit wall collapse did not represent a material adverse event. The court added that Sibanye-Stillwater was not justified in cancelling the 2021 deal.The court will deliver a further judgement, scheduled for November, regarding the quantum of the damages to be paid by Sibanye-Stillwater.Asked about this, Froneman said at the firm’s annual results presentation earlier today that he was “struggling to see why there is a claim at all”, but then he added: “Having said that, we are quite open to engaging in settlement talks remembering Appian has a duty to minimise damages while we are in dispute”.Froneman also cited a report by JP Morgan which stated that the potential claim payable to Appian would range between zero and $522m.Asked if it was open to talks, an Appian spokesman replied in an email: “Appian is confident that the High Court will deliver a fair resolution on these damages in the trial”.Furthermore, the potential claim by November “is expected to significantly exceed $600m, he said. The $522m figure raised by JP Morgan reflected Appian’s loss in March 2024 ahead of the liability case, he added.“The damages from Sibanye’s unlawful failure to complete its acquisition have increased since this March 2024 valuation as a result of additional interest accruing and the very difficult conditions of the nickel market.”The post Appian rejects Sibanye-Stillwater’s offer of a damages settlement appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com