Gemfields gets takeover bid from shareholder

Gemfields looks set to disappear from AIM after its largest investor today launched a surprise bid to buy the rest of the ruby miner.

Pallinghurst Resources, a South African private-equity firm run by ex-BHP Billiton boss Brian Gilbertson, is offering its Johannesburg-quoted shares for the company, valuing it at over £200 million.

Pallinghurst and its co-investors, including South Africa’s richest man, Christo Wiese, who owns Poundland in the UK, already control almost three-quarters of Gemfields, so said they would not be offering a premium.

Pallinghurst sold the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia to Gemfields in 2008 in return for a stake in the business. Its shareholding increased further when Gemfields bought Fabergé from Pallinghurst in 2012.

Pallinghurst said it was considering turning itself into a mining company, with a view to listing in London.

Gemfields said it was reviewing the “unsolicited” bid.