Please note that this call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to the CEO, Paul Dunne, and the CFO, Alet Coetzee. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining us on the roundtable media conference, post our recent announcement. I would imagine that those people on the line have listened to the presentation. I'm not going to regurgitate what we've said. Just in summary, it is Northam's firm belief that it is in everybody's best interest that we remain empowered. At the same time, we have got a lot of value sitting inside the Zambezi transaction, and we have the ability to crystallize that value on behalf of both Zambezi shareholders, but of course, also Northam shareholders. At the same time, we don't want to lose our empowerment status. You will see there's a part D, which is centered on our employees and communities for the next 15 years. I think, on the whole, it's a very good outcome for all parties.
I hope you have appreciated that from the presentation. I think it's probably easier if we go straight to questions rather than me giving a long spiel. If I can open up the lines immediately for questions, and then we'll go from there. Let's see where the conversation takes us.
Thank you very much, sir. If you would like to ask a question, please press star then one on your touch-tone phone or on the keypad on your screen. If you decide to withdraw the question, please press star then two to remove yourself from the list. Again, ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please press star then one. We will pause to see if there are any questions.
Thank you.
The first question comes from Denelle Fakhu from DR. Please go ahead, Denelle.
Good morning, Mr. Dunne.
Hello, Denelle. Good morning.
How is the transaction been received by both communities, especially the extension community?
Denelle, we will see. Obviously, we've only announced this morning. You can imagine we will engage from here. I think what I can say so far is that we have been able only at this stage to engage with a few shareholders. Obviously, you will have seen on the press release this morning that those few shareholders are extremely supportive of the transaction so far. Now we are public, and then we take the transaction to the broader community and interested parties, and that's a job still to be done.
Thank you.
Thanks, Denelle.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, just another reminder. If you would like to ask a question, please press star then one. If you would like to ask a question, please press star then one. We will pause to see if there are any further questions. The next question comes from Peter Game from USAT Trust. Please go ahead, Peter.
Could you just summarize the effect on ordinary shareholders?
Hello, Peter. Good to talk to you again. It's Paul speaking.
Good morning, Paul.
Good morning. In a nutshell, Peter, at the moment as we stand, pre-transaction, there are 509 million shares in issue for Northam. As you will probably know, the share price is hovering around the ZAR 245 per share, and that gives a market capitalization of around ZAR 130 billion. The number of shares in issue will reduce from the 509 million or 510 million shares down to 378 million shares in issue. This is effectively a 25% ± share buyback of the company. As you will also be aware, a share buyback of this size with attractive pricing is extremely beneficial for ordinary shareholders such as yourself.
Thank you very much. It's more common to see a bonus issue, isn't it, than a share buyback of this size?
Well, obviously, Peter, you can return value to shareholders in multiple of ways.
Yes.
If we do complete this share buyback, you can expect a resultant uplift in the equity value, your equity value.
Yes.
That is, of course, another method of returning value to shareholders.
Yes.
I do want to point out that the capital allocation decision that we have made today does not preclude dividends. I want to be very specific on that. Does not preclude dividends.
Thank you very much.
Thanks, Peter.
Thank you. The next question comes from David from Miningmx. Please go ahead.
Paul, yeah. Thank you. Obviously, a very complex deal. I guess we're all trying to understand just what is going on. I want to try and get a handle on what the company's balance sheet looks like post the deal. Get an idea of where the cash is, where the net debt situation is. Can you provide any kind of insight into post all of these contortions, as you call it, what kind of balance sheet do shareholders get?
Okay, David, I'm going to answer that question in two parts, and maybe the second part I'll let Alet answer, who's also with me this morning, our CFO. First of all, you see it as a complex deal. It's a share buyback, David. It's not particularly unusual. It's a very, very large share buyback, and that is unusual. A 25% share buyback, I would challenge you to go and see if you've seen a bigger one. Secondly, that share buyback is done at very attractive prices. Again, very straightforward. When you do a big share buyback like that at a very attractive price, clearly it's value accretive to ordinary shareholders. It's a compelling value proposition for ordinary shareholders. I'm going to now hand back to Alet, to maybe take you through the final part of your question.
Hi, David. As we mentioned at our results presentation on Friday, if you look at the cash generative ability of the group going forward with our increased production base, as well as the increase in metal prices, it is very, very favorable. Even with the cash that we'll apply for the wrap-up of the Zambezi transaction, that will be by means of purchasing additional ZPLPs, that will amount to about ZAR 2 billion, and then also a cash injection into Zambezi to settle their taxes as well as the cash distribution. We've quoted around ZAR 5.3 billion this morning. Even if you take all of those cash requirements of the transaction into account, with the increased production profile of the group, Northam Platinum will be in a very, very good position going forward.
If one looks at the net debt to EBITDA ratios, it will be more favorable than where we were as at 31 December. I don't know if that answers your question or if you've got a follow-up.
I think, it does in context. I get the context, yeah. That's fine. Thank you.
Thanks, David.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, just one final call. If you would like to ask a question, please press star and one. We will pause to see if there are any further questions. If we're done, it seems like there aren't any questions in the queue. Can I hand back to you for closing comments?
Yeah. Thanks very much, everybody. Appreciate the call. As always, you do know Northam is a very open company. You're welcome to give us follow-up questions offline on the email. Thanks very much, everybody. We'll see you soon.