Sourcing

Petra Diamonds Completes Restructuring

SourcingMar 11, 2021

Petra Diamonds Completes Restructuring

The diamond miner first announced the move in the fall after pulling itself off the market when it couldn’t find any buyers.

Better resized 299 carat.jpg
Petra just sold this 299.3-carat diamond recovered at the Cullinan diamond mine to Stargems DMCC for $12.18 million. The miner has completed its debt-for-equity restructuring begun last year.
London—Petra Diamonds Ltd. has completed the restructuring of the company announced in the fall. 

The miner owns four diamond mines: Cullinan, Finsch and Koffiefontein, all former De Beers Group mines in South Africa; and Williamson, a currently mothballed open-pit mine in Tanzania.

Weighed down with debt and hit with power outages in South Africa, lower diamonds prices and a diamond market impacted by the pandemic, Petra first put itself up for sale in June. 

Then in October, the diamond miner said it was concluding the formal sale process as it hadn’t generated any viable offers and instead would enter a debt-for-equity restructuring

That has involved its $650 million bond debt being replaced by $337 million in new notes—$30 million from existing debtholders and the rest converted into equity. 

Debtholders now own 91 percent of the company and existing stakeholders’ share decreased to 9 percent.

The restructuring also included new governance arrangements and cash flow controls.

 Related stories will be right here … 

Petra also announced the appointment of Matthew Glowasky to the board as a non-executive director. 

“The completion of the restructuring is a significant achievement for Petra, and I would like to thank our noteholders, lenders and shareholders for their continued support,” CEO Richard Duffy said.

“The restructuring will provide Petra with a stable and sustainable capital structure, significantly reduced financial burdens and greater liquidity, leaving us in a stronger position to focus on optimizing the value of our diversified asset base and to deliver growth for all our stakeholders.”

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Petra also announced it sold a 299.3-carat diamond recovered at the famed Cullinan diamond mine in January to Stargems DMCC for $12.18 million.

The diamond achieved a per-carat price of $40,701, exceeding the $34,386 per carat for the 424.89-carat “Legacy of the Cullinan Diamond Mine” achieved in May 2019.

Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.

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