LONDON (SHARECAST) - Shares in Aquarius Platinum, which mines for the precious metal in South Africa, are sharply lower after it said it will issue $250m worth of bonds to pay back debt and construct a processing plant at one of its mines.
The sale could rise to $300m, Aquarius said.
Aquarius has been hit by a sharp fall in platinum prices, although last month it moved back into the black in the third quarter despite a slide in total revenue.
The bonds issued by the company are expected to have a semi-annual coupon in the range of 3.5% and 4.25% and will have a conversion price set at 20% to 25% above the volume weighted average price between launch and pricing.
Aquarius said it will have the option to call the bonds after the first three years if the price of the shares exceeds 130% of the prevailing conversion price.
