When dealmaker Neal Froneman acquired Stillwater Mining three years ago, critics lined up to say he had overpaid for the palladium producer. Now, his $2.2-billion bet on the metal is set to pay off for Sibanye Gold investors.
Sibanye may declare its first dividend in three years in August, CEO Froneman said. It will be a sweet moment for the veteran dubbed “Mr. Fix-It” for his turnaround successes in the 1990s. Froneman’s latest renaissance comes after the indebted company lost more than half its value as it was pummeled by strikes and soaring fatalities at its gold mines.
“I don’t want to be so bold as to say I told you so,” Froneman said in an interview at Sibanye’s modest Roodepoort office in western Johannesburg. “We get people apologising for comments they made a few years ago.”