Holding(s) in Company

26 Mar 2008 07:00

African Eagle Resources PLC26 March 2008 African Eagle Resources plc TWP Finance acquires a strategic stake in African Eagle African Eagle Resources plc ("African Eagle" or "the Company", ticker AIM: AFE,AltX: AEA) has been advised by TWP Finance (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of TWPHoldings (a multi-disciplinary consulting engineering firm based in SouthAfrica) that TWP has acquired 9,515,499 ordinary shares in African Eagle,representing a 4.48% interest in the issued shares of the Company. Dean Cunningham, chief executive of TWP Finance, says this development reflectsthat company's commitment to becoming increasingly involved in early stageexploration projects around the globe. "We regard this development as an initial stake in African Eagle and intendincreasing our involvement in the medium to long term to develop a strategicstake in the company," he says. "The acquisition of these shares gives us accessto exploration projects in Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique and we can nowleverage our skills base and intellectual property to create an excellentplatform for investment opportunities. "African Eagle is strategically well positioned in central and eastern Africa,with significant opportunities across a number of key commodities, notablycopper, gold and uranium. This company has a respected exploration team on theground, with great contacts in the three regions in which it operates. It couldalso serve as a springboard to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and othercountries. "There's perfect synergy in the coming together of our two companies and thetiming is opportune, given that African Eagle's strategy has recently shiftedtowards developing mining operations of its own, rather than bringing jointventure partners into every project. TWP's world-class engineers have the skillsand experience to assist in this strategy. Future involvement will revolvearound project and service inputs from our side, development partnerships onAFE's existing projects and the securing of new projects jointly by TWP Financeand African Eagle working together. Cunningham adds that the African Eagle shares are an attractive prospect atpresent, as they are relatively undervalued despite the high metals prices inthe extended commodity cycle. John Park, Chairman of African Eagle, welcomed the announcement by TWP,commenting "TWP has skills, capabilities and assets which complement AfricanEagle's own asset and skills base very well. We see TWP as a preferred partner,through project development partnerships or via the provision of services by TWPConsulting," says Park. "The partners will also seek new joint involvements inthe future, which will be financed from an increase in the share price asinvestors recognise the potential of this dynamic new affiliation, from thestrength TWP brings to the balance sheet and in the future, from project cashflows." "The timing is highly fortuitous, following as it does the African Eagle board'sdecision to take into production some of its mid-tier gold and copper assets.African Eagle has a good track record of working closely with its partners toensure maximum benefits for all, and we are sure, will do so with TWP PersonallyI'm looking forward very much to the evolution of the Company that this firststake in African Eagle will stimulate." John ParkChairmanAfrican Eagle Resources plc 26 March 2008 For further information: African Eagle TWPMark Parker Dean CunninghamManaging Director +27 82 490 6429+44 20 7248 6059 +27116947635+44 77 5640 6899 Nicola MarrinSeymour Pierce LimitedNominated Adviser+ 44 20 7107 8000 Charmane RussellRussell & Associates, Johannesburg+ 27 11 8803924+27 82 8928052 Ed Portman / Leesa PetersConduit PR+44 20 7429 6607+44 (0) 7733 635 01 About African Eagle African Eagle is a diversified mineral exploration and development companyoperating in eastern and central Africa. The company's principal advancedprojects are the Mkushi Copper Mines project in Zambia and the Miyabi goldproject in Tanzania, which are being fast-tracked towards production. Thecompany also holds a large well-balanced portfolio of promising earlier stagegold and base metal projects, including the Ndola copper project and the EagleEye iron-oxide copper gold project. Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, the sites of African Eagle's projects, are allcountries which have highly prospective geology, relatively low abovegroundrisks and track records of successful major investments in the metals andminerals industries. African Eagle specialises in project generation and exploration. To take itsdiscoveries into production, it seeks to sign up industry partners with recordsof successful mine development. These joint ventures and, in time, the revenuefrom advanced projects, will finance future exploration and new discoveries. About TWP TWP Holdings listed on the main board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange inNovember 2007, under the heavy construction sector, having burgeoned from asmall group of professionals into a highly capable resource focused engineeringproject house - with a head count of more than 1300 - over the past 25 years.The Group has evolved to a point where it can offer complete professionalsolutions to the mining industry, with services spanning resourceidentification, bankable feasibility studies, mine and production planning,process engineering, project execution, delivery and project handover. The value of projects currently under TWP management exceeds R70-billion andsome of its project pipeline extends beyond 2016. Income going forward islargely secured, with funds already committed to many of these projects. TWP Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of TWP Holdings. It was created to takeadvantage of the numerous opportunities available in the global resources andcommodity industry. With its own strategy and management structure, TWP Financeboasts a dynamic team of financial professionals who are experts in projectevaluation and funding across the full spectrum of resources and commodities -from exploration and development, right through to beneficiation and processingof metals and minerals. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange