Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Ltd (Zimplats) has declared that it still supports a takeover overture from its venture partner Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd.

It has decided that the offer made in opposition to Implats by Barbican Holdings Ltd is too uncertain and poses too much of a potential risk to be entertained.

Zimplats and its independent directors believe the $4.08 a share offer to be 'fair and reasonable' and have recommended it to the company's shareholders. They have confirmed that they will accept the Implats offer for their personal Zimplats shareholdings.

A word of warning was sounded, however, when the same figures said that Zimplats was unlikely to pay a dividend for the next five years, owing to a decade-long growth plan that will require extensive funding.

This detail might lead many minority shareholders to view more favourably the five dollars a share offer made by Barbican.

For all its apparent advantages, though, the Barbican offer is not secure enough to gain Zimplats' official backing. When details were revealed late on Monday, it emerged that funding for the takeover is uncertain and will take time to arrange. Zimplats characterises some of its arguments as 'simplistic' and 'potentially misleading.'

The offer by Implats, which has a 62 per cent stake in the Zimbabwe firm, is scheduled to close on Friday.