Valterra Platinum makes bourse debut as Anglo exits South African unit

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -Valterra Platinum, the world's biggest miner of the metal by value, made its trading debut on the Johannesburg bourse as a standalone unit on Wednesday, completing a spin-off from parent Anglo American.

Its shares opened weaker on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange before changing direction in a volatile early session.

Anglo's demerger of the Johannesburg-based platinum group metals (PGM) producer, formerly known as Anglo American Platinum, comes as it shifts focus to copper and iron ore.

CEO Craig Miller said Valterra would focus on creating value from its existing portfolio and upholding standards established during its time as part of the Anglo group.

"Part of our DNA is upholding those high standards and exemplifying who we are as a PGM producer," Miller said after the listing.

Valterra CFO Sayurie Naidoo said the company would maintain its capital allocation framework, paying out 40% of headline earnings, but would consider share buybacks if metal prices rise and there is surplus cash.

Valterra will also have a secondary listing in London on June 2.

London-listed Anglo is exiting the platinum mining business as part of a revamp roughly a year on from surviving a $49-billion takeover bid by bigger rival BHP Group. Anglo retained a shareholding of about 19% in the South African platinum miner.

It is also selling its coking coal assets in Australia, nickel mines in Brazil and has said it is weighing whether to sell or list its loss-making De Beers diamond unit.

Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad has previously said the strategy to focus on growing the company's copper assets should boost Anglo's value.

Still, analysts and investors say if a rerating of Anglo shares doesn't materialise, the company could be ripe for another takeover approach.

"The (spin-off) of Valterra removes the key hurdle and increases the probability of another M&A approach," UBS Group analysts said in a research note on May 21.

"The potential for M&A increases further as or when Anglo exits De Beers," the analysts added.

(Reporting by Felix Njini;Additional reporting by Sfundo Parakozov and Nelson Banya; Editing by Alexander Winning, Clarence Fernandez and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)