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South African billionaire mining tycoon Patrice Motsepe has seen the market value of his stake in African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) soar by R3.56 billion ($224 million) in the past 21 days on the back of sustained buying pressure by investors on the local bourse.
ARM is a leading South African diversified mining and minerals company, with interests in a wide range of mines, including iron, coal, copper, gold, platinum and other precious metals.
Motsepe, who founded ARM in 1997 as South Africa’s first Black-owned mining company, controls a 40-percent stake, representing 89,092,411 ordinary shares in the leading mining company.
In the past three weeks, the South African billionaire has recorded a multimillion-dollar value bump for his stake, as shares in his flagship company soared by 21 percent.
As of press time, Dec. 17, shares in ARM were trading at R229.63 ($14.46) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, 2.82-percent higher than their opening price on the bourse this morning.
Since Nov. 26, the company’s shares have increased in price by more than 21 percent from R189.69 ($11.94) per share to R229.63 ($14.46) as of the time of the drafting of this report.
The 21-percent surge in ARM’s shares can be linked to investor buying interest, as experts expect improved financial results in its current fiscal year. This bullish bias was underpinned by higher commodity prices and the board’s decision to ramp up operations and production through increased investment in operating capacity.
In line with the board’s growth strategy, ARM in October announced that it is in talks to acquire the Bokoni Platinum Mine, a joint venture belonging to Johannesburg-based Anglo-American Platinum (Amplats) and Toronto-based Atlatsa Resources Corporation.
As a result of the surge in the company’s shares, the market value of Motsepe’s 40-percent stake has risen from a valuation of R16.9 billion ($1.06 billion) on Nov. 26 to R20.46 billion ($1.29 billion) as of the time of writing this report.
This accrued a whopping R3.56-billion ($224 million) gain for the South African billionaire in three weeks.
Aside from the gain in his stake, Motsepe, who is the president of the Confederation of African Football, received a final dividend of R1.8 billion ($126.2 million) from ARM.
The dividend took his total dividend earnings for the year to R2.7 billion ($189.4 million), as Motsepe received an interim dividend of R898.7 million ($63.1 million) earlier this year.
