Sibanye liable to pay Appian damages for scrapped mine deals

Private equity firm Appian Capital Advisory has scored a big win after the U.K. top court ruled that Sibanye-Stillwater (NYSE: SBSW; JSE: SSW) had to pay the London-based investment firm for the termination of a US$1.2-billion deal to buy two Brazilian mines.

Appian took Sibanye-Stillwater to court in 2022, after the South African precious metals miner scrapped a transaction to buy shares in Atlantic Nickel and Mineração Vale Verde, owners of the Santa Rita nickel and Serrote copper mines in Brazil, respectively.

The deal was meant to boost Sibanye’s critical metals portfolio as it sought to diversify away from platinum and gold.

Sibanye cited a geotechnical event at Santa Rita as the reason for terminating the deals. Appian claimed the miner’s decision was based on an “incorrect assertion.”

In the ruling handed down following a five-week trial, the judge said the geotechnical event used by Sibanye as reason for withdrawing from the deal was neither expected to be material nor reasonably anticipated to become so.

In his deicision, heard by Justice Butcher noted there was “no other basis on which Sibanye was entitled to terminate the sale and purchase agreements (SPAs).”

Appian said it plans to recover the full extent of its losses, including all interests accumulated since January 2022, when Sibanye walked away from the deal. A hearing to determine the exact amount of these damages is scheduled for November 2025, the company said. 

Should Sibanye fail to pay the full amount awarded in the trial, Appian said it would pursue all available enforcement measures.

In a separate statement, Sibanye noted the company was successful in having Appian’s claim of willful misconduct dismissed. “The judge ruled that Sibanye-Stillwater management genuinely believed that it was entitled to terminate the SPAs in what they perceived as the best interests of Sibanye-Stillwater,” it said.

The company argues that Appian could have sold the Santa Rita and Serrote mines to another buyer for a similar price, which in Sibanye’s view means that Appian cannot claim all losses to be covered by Sibanye-Stillwater.

“The judgment notes that Appian received multiple offers for the mines after Sibanye-Stillwater terminated the SPAs. Accordingly, Sibanye-Stillwater will continue to defend the claim vigorously at the trial in November 2025,” it said.

Atlantic Nickel’s Santa Rita open pit mine in the Brazilian state of in Bahia is one of the few long-life nickel sulphide mines currently in production. It also yields copper, cobalt, and platinum group metals as byproducts. The company is transitioning the mine from open-pit to underground operations. This shift to higher-grade nickel is expected to boost production rates and extend the mine’s operational life to over 20 years.

—This story has been edited for clarity and accuracy to reflect that damages in the case have not yet been determined.