Miningmx reports that the person hired by Sibanye-Stillwater four years ago to drive its merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy has resigned from the company. The miner announced on Monday that Laurent Charbonnier had decided to leave the company “for personal reasons”.
His role, formally the chief commercial and development officer, will be taken up by Charl Keyter, Sibanye’s CFO, on an interim basis. Charbonnier was previously MD of UK bank HSBC which was one of the lenders in Sibanye’s $2bn bid for US palladium/platinum operation, Stillwater Mining in 2016. This was the first of a string of deals as the group embarked on a rapid growth strategy – many of which Charbonnier worked upon. The departure of Charbonnier, described at the time of his hire in April 2021 as a sign of its global aspiration, comes as Sibanye focuses on debt control rather than expansion. At interim stage, the group held R18.7bn of net debt and its net debt: adjusted EBITDA ratio was 1.43 times. As a result, expansion through deal making is probably one of the last thing on the company’s mind. In 2024, Sibanye cut back on production at Stillwater and made head office and regional cuts in South Africa, as well as reducing some staff at its gold and platinum group metal operations.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by David McKay at Miningmx
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