Lonmin plc, formerly Lonrho plc, was a British producer of platinum group metals operating in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its registered office was in London, and its operational headquarters were in Johannesburg, South Africa. Lonmin rose to international attention following the Marikana miners' strike in August 2012, in which over 100 striking Lonmin employees were shot (36 killed and 78 wounded) by South African Police Service officers. On 10 June 2019, Sibanye-Stillwater completed the acquisition of Lonmin plc. History The company was incorporated in the United Kingdom on 13 May 1909 as the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company Limited. It had a founding capital of £1300, which was raised by seven shareholders. Led by Julius Weil, the company started to invest in mining rights in Rhodesia. In 1912 Lonrho started to invest in farming land as well and by 1945 it had become Rhodesia's biggest company. Businessman Tiny Rowland was recruited as chief executive in 1962. For many years during the second half of the twentieth century it was frequently in the news, not only due to the politically sensitive part of the world in which it had mining businesses, but also – as it strove to become a conglomerate not wholly dependent on these businesses – in a number of takeover battles, most notably for the Harrods of Knightsbridge department store. In 1968, Lonrho acquired Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, a gold mining business in Ghana. The former Conservative minister Duncan Sandys, a director of Ashanti, became Lonrho's chairman in 1972. Sir Angus Ogilvy, married to a member of the British royal family (Princess Alexandra), was a Lonrho director and this increased media interest in the company's affairs. Ogilvy's career ended when Lonrho was involved in a sanctions-busting scandal concerning trade with Rhodesia. Prime Minister, Edward Heath, criticised the company, describing it in the House of Commons in 1973 as "an unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism." By 1979, Lonrho employed 140,000 people worldwide. During the 1980s, Lonrho entered the British newspaper market, buying the Sunday newspaper The Observer in 1981 and the newly launched daily Today in 1986. Today was sold to News International the following year, while the Guardian Media Group bought the Observer in 1993. Tiny Rowland was finally ejected from Lonrho in October 1993 after a boardroom tussle with director Dieter Bock. He was replaced